Three citizens of Moldova are investigated for smuggling, passive corruption and favoring of offenses. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office completed the investigation and sent the case to court, IPN reports, quoting the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The three had been followed between December 2013 and May 2014. In May they were arrested after the smuggling of 56,000 packs of cigarettes to the value of over 311,000 lei over Moldova’s border into Romania was thwarted. The arrests were made within an operation performed in concert with the competent Romanian authorities on both banks of the Prut River.

Initially, the accused persons denied their involvement in smuggling, saying prosecutors’ acts were illegal and abusive. They admitted their blame when they were familiarized with the accumulated evidence. The three were banned from leaving the country. They face up to eight years in jail. The case is examined by the Leova District Court.