A number of 130 internal inquiries were held in 2008 within the Customs Service. 177 employees have been disciplinarily sanctioned. Out of these, 35 employees have been fired over corruption acts or corruptive behavior, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a communiqué, the Customs Service says that the number of dismissed employees is increasing following the carried out activities aimed at preventing and combating corruption. Six customs officers were caught red handed. The Customs Service’ efforts aimed at preventing and combating corruption center on the objectives and measures stipulated in the Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Program for Moldova, the communiqué says. The Customs Service is responsible for the achievement of three major objectives of the Threshold Country Program: to insure probity among the Service’s personnel; to simplify the procedures and assess the processing capacities; to encourage the economic entities to observe the legislation and implement appropriate measures to prevent contraband, tax evasion and other forms of crossborder offences. “The results achieved by the Customs Service in its activity in 2008 show that considerable progress has been made. The efforts must be yet continued and supported in 2009 so as to improve the performance indicators and promote the international and European standards in the field,” the communiqué says. As many as 143 employees had been sanctioned in 2006, but none of them was fired. Of the 179 employees punished in 2007, 10 had been dismissed.