Customs officers caught red-handed

Two employees of the Customs Bureau Costesti-Stinca and an inspector from the Border Police were taken into custody after being caught with large sums of money. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, until now five criminal proceedings were issued on the matter, and the investigations still continue, reports Info-Prim Neo. Prosecutor Viorel Morari, from the Anticorruption Prosecution Office, says that searches were made in order to find the money paid to customs officers for passing the border with contraband items like cigarettes, spare parts, and citruses. Inspections were made at their workplaces and in their homes, as well as in their garages and vehicles. The sums paid to customs employees vary, reaching €400 per transport unit passing. As a result of the searches, €110,000 and $14,100 were found in the strongbox of a Border Police inspector. The investigations commenced in early 2011, when the police started receiving information regarding customs employees being involved in contraband merchandise transit. The suspects may be sentenced to 5 to 10 years in jail, if found guilty.