Large quantity of drugs confiscated

At the beginning of the last week an international heroine-smuggling network was arrested by the officers of the Antidrug unit of the Operative Service Department of the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the Ministry of Domestic Affairs press unit, in an apartment on Independentei Street, Moldovan police arrested a 42-year-old Turkish citizen who stayed in Moldova with an expired passport. After the apartment search, the police found 1.5 kg of heroine, with a value of 1.5 million lei on the black market. The drugs were brought from Turkey, and they were designated for export to Germany, where, in 2003, the Turkish citizen was imprisoned for 7 months for similar crimes. This time, if convicted, the Turkish man might be imprisoned for 7 to 20 years. According to the source mentioned, a couple of days ago, the officers of Hancesti district police discovered a hemp field in a household in Ciuciuleni. The owner, a 57-year-old woman, was raising the weeds in a greenhouse, on a two-are lawn. The police confiscated 75 kg of weed, which was destroyed later. The woman might get a fine of eight to fourteen thousands lei or a two to five years imprisonment sentence. At the same time, Rascani district police discovered a drug den. On June 12, in a garage on 29 Crasescu Street there were found 7 bottles of opium, 4 packets of poppy straws, plastic syringes and drug-processing equipment. The owner of that factory is a 32-year-old man. The suspect, who has been taking drugs for a long time, said that he was buying the drugs from the suburbs of Chisinau and was processing them during the night. The second day the suspect would sell the drugs for 50 lei per millilitre. The man has been on the Drug Department records for three years, and now he might get imprisoned for 8 to 12 years. The special operation “Poppy” has been initiated recently in Moldova. During this operation 108 crimes were detected: 51 of them are related to poppy cultivation, and 22 concern weed cultivation. 2891 kg of prime material for drug production has been destroyed. As of the beginning of 2007 there have been recorded 840 cases involving possession, consumption and illegal distribution of drugs.