About six million cigarettes, camouflaged in a truck driven by a Ukrainian citizen, were detected at Costești customs

Law enforcement officers announced on Thursday, August 11, that they have foiled a smuggling attempt at the exit from Moldova, through the customs post Costești, where about six million cigarettes were detected. The case allegedly involved a lorry transporting charcoal from Ukraine to Romania.

The driver of the truck, a 59-year-old Ukrainian national, who allegedly refused to provide information to the investigation team, was detained for 72 hours for criminal prosecution, SIS reports.

“He had affixed a customs seal to the trailer as the truck was in transit – the space in which the contraband had been camouflaged. On the basis of operational information, detailed physical inspection, including scanning, was ordered. The images obtained raised suspicions about the nature of the goods declared and transported,” reads a statement issued by the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS).

Thus, the customs seal was removed and the cargo compartment was checked. As a result, 600 boxes containing 299,996 packets of cigarettes with local excise duty stamps were found concealed behind bags along the tarpaulin.

“After detaining the truck, law enforcement officers searched a warehouse in Edinet district, where the same type of charcoal was found officially transported in the truck. There, it was established the presence of another 100,000 packs of cigarettes, containing two million cigarettes of the same brand, which would also have been subject to illegal transportation,” the statement added.

The goods and the means of transport have been seized pending a decision on the case. The Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), together with the Customs Service and SIS, are continuing to take all necessary measures to establish all persons involved in the crime.