Customs officers in Caraş-Severin detained by prosecutors
At least nine people have been detained by the prosecutors at the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in some towns in Caraş-Severin county. They are being charged with cigarette smuggling.
Articol de Mario Balint, 11 Martie 2011, 12:10
Marcel Tiucă, Oraviţa Frontier Police Chief, is being detained by the Timişoara General Directorate for Countering Organised Crime – Caraş Severin General Directorate for Countering Organised Crime.
Starting early this morning there have been raids in Caraş-Severin County in Oraviţa, Naidăş, Ciclova Montană, Moldova Nouă and Comuna Grădinari.
Up to now nine people have been detained: three frontier guards, three customs officers and three cigarette smugglers.
‘The officers at the Timişoara General Directorate for Countering Organised Crime - Caraş Severin General Directorate for Countering Organised Crime delegated by the DIICOT prosecutor – Caraş-Severin Regional Office, has taken measures to use nine peremptory writs to dismantle an organized crime group that smuggles cigarettes’, Ancuţa Cărbunaru, Caraş-Severin Police Inspectorate spokesperson stated.
The nine people have been taken to Caraş-Severin DIICOT.
It appears that the raids were connected to the smuggling network ran by Halas, the football player that was detained, together with six other members of his network, in September last year.
Sources close to the investigation stated that the police officers and customs officers apprehended today had to make sure that the cigarettes reached Halas safely.
Translated by: Gabriela Lungu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University
