In the first half of 2022, the Customs Service thwarted 81 attempts to smuggle illicit tobacco products, which means an increase in the number of seizures by about 88% compared to the first six months of 2021. This was announced on Wednesday, July 20, at a press conference Deputy Director of the Customs Service, Head of the Anti-Fraud Department, Nicolae Vutcariov. In particular, 27 cases were detected at the Moldovan-Romanian border, which is an increase of more than 250% compared to the same period last year, announced the head of the Border Police, Rosian Vasiloi.

During this period, according to the deputy head of the Customs Service, more than 80 cigarette seizures were recorded and eight criminal cases were opened, with a total of more than 37 million cigarettes seized.

“As a result, 12 people have been charged, three are suspects and four others are in custody, including two drivers, one Customs employee and one former employee. At the same time, about 20 transport units have been seized,” Nicolae Vutcariov said.

By May, the import of cigarettes into Moldova had fallen by about 25% compared to the same period last year. Likewise, the import of raw material for cigarette production fell by about 45% compared to the previous year, according to the authorities.

“The largest seizure at the Moldovan-Romanian border was documented in April at the Albița crossing point, when an attempt to smuggle into Romania a quantity of about 759 thousand cigarettes was thwarted, which is 77% of the total amount of cigarettes detained at the border with Moldova,” Vutcariov said.

Although activity at customs posts on the border with Romania has increased by more than 140%, Moldovan authorities say there has been no increase in imports of cigarettes or raw materials for their production, “which does not raise suspicions of increased illegal trade activity on Moldovan territory”.

“The cigarettes that have been detected so far are with excise stamps, legally purchased, and no attempts to smuggle counterfeit cigarettes have been found,” the head of the anti-fraud department added.

According to Border Police chief Rosian Vasiloi, cross-border crime has increased since the start of the war in Ukraine, which puts more pressure on the state border.

“On the way out of Moldova, at the border with Romania, compared to last year, when there were 940 thousand unique crossings of people, this year we have more than 2 million,” Vasiloi said.

Customs Service Director Igor Talmazan says that the fight at Moldova’s borders with cigarette smuggling is difficult as long as there are “no very clearly established rules” on the country’s territory.

In this regard, Talmazan says the Customs Service has put forward several legislative proposals.

“We propose to make it compulsory for the machinery used to manufacture cigarettes to be registered, a mechanism that is already in place for alcoholic products. We have also requested that economic agents must have a licence to manufacture tobacco products when importing raw materials. Now this is free practice (…) We also proposed to examine the possibility of restricting the marketing of products by setting a quantity for individuals”, said Igor Talmazan.