The head of Penitentiary No. 15 Cricova was arrested, being suspected of participation and supporting, by different ways, of the activity of a criminal organization. The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases (POOCSC) informed about this as a result of searches carried out at the penitentiary on February 24. The police seized a large number of banned objects, including over 100 handmade knives, IPN reports.

“The large-scale searches performed in the penitentiary’s sectors, where over 500 convicts are held, are a premiere for the Republic of Moldova. They were authorized in connection with the criminal case started against one of the deputy heads of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, which is handled by prosecutors of POOCSC. Last week, he was remanded in custody for abuse of power in the interests of a criminal organization and the investigations are in full swing,” the institution says in a press release.

As a result of the searches, there were seized mobile phones, memory devices, gaming chips and tens of sets of poker playing cards and also hundreds of liters of artisanal alcohol. The alcohol was handed over the penitentiary’s administration and this ordered to immediately dispose of it.

It was decided to transfer 13 men held at the Penitentiary in Cricova to other jails. The 13 convicts have different statuses in the criminal world and their actions will be investigated.