Communist MPs against investigating government officials’ ties to drug trafficking

The faction of the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) and several unaffiliated MPs left the Parliament’s sitting on Thursday, April 10, in protest against the refusal of the Communist majority to vote for the initiation of a parliamentary probe into “the ties of certain representatives of the Moldovan central authorities to drug trafficking”. The Communist MPs argued in turn that the Parliament’s interference with the investigations conducted by law enforcers would be unlawful, Info-Prim Neo reports. AMN’s proposal came in connection with a recent 200-kg heroin seizure by the police, which indicates, as AMN alleges, the existence of a trafficking scheme under the protection of government officials. AMN leader Serafim Urecheanu alluded to the interests of the “red drug barons” to collect money, even from drug trafficking, for the next election campaign. The AMN president stressed that a parliamentary inquiry would help to demystify this case, which brought heavy damage to Moldova’s image. Communist MP Iurie Stoicov, the chair of the Parliamentary Committee for national security, defense and public order, has stated that the law enforcement bodies are investigating the case and the guilty persons will be punished. The MP remarked that the Parliament’s involvement in the criminal investigation would be illegal. In the absence of most of AMN parliamentarians, Deputy Prosecutor General Vasile Pascari answered the heroin seizure-related questions of the AMN deputy Veaceslav Untila. Vasile Pascari informed that the General Prosecutor’s Office was conducting investigations into the case on the basis of the criminal proceeding initiated on March 20. The investigations have revealed that the international criminal group, involving four Turkish citizens, four top officers of the Moldovan Interior Ministry, and four persons that haven’t been identified yet, was created in 2007. According to the prosecutor, the Moldovan members of the gang, misusing their authority and exerting pressure on some Interior Ministry officers, facilitated the entry and the retailing of 200 kg of heroin in Moldova and other states. On March 29, the suspected officers were officially charged with illegal drug trafficking and power abuse. Later, a district court issued a 30-day arrest warrant. Investigations are still continuing, the deputy prosecutor general concluded.