The smuggling of goods at the border in 2018 rose in volume by 51% compared with a year before to 115 cases. The trafficking in arms and munitions grew by 78% to 34 cases, the chief of the Border Police Fredolin Lecari was quoted by IPN as saying in the talk show “Fabrika” on Publica TV channel.
Fredolin Lecari noted that in 2018 the border police officers discovered over 500 false papers with which travelers tried to cross the border. The number of cases of use of false and counterfeit documents was 14% higher compared with 2017. There were also discovered 91 cases of violation of the state border crossing rules for the purpose of illegal migration, with 116 persons being detained. “This shows a part of the citizens still practice illegal activities, but also shows that the vigilance of the border police has increased,” stated the official.
According to him, the state border of Moldova in 2018 was crossed 20.4 million times, including by over 4.8 million units of transport. “This means the border police came into contact with travelers 20.4 million times in the course of last year alone. We now impose another border crossing culture. Our mission is to diminish discomfort when crossing the border and to offset some of the drawbacks by particular actions taken by police officers in relation to travelers,” stated Fredolin Lecari, adding the figures are by 7% higher compared with a year before at a time when the personnel of the Border Police remained the same.
Fredolin Lecari noted the cooperation relations with the responsible institutions of the neighboring countries are very good.
