Three persons arrested for smuggling food

The police detained three persons that were transporting illegally food products on the Chisinau-Bender passenger train. The seized goods that included pressed cheese, meat pâté and dried fruit were assessed at about 88,000 lei, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The arrested persons – two women aged 33 and 44 and a man aged 33 – could not show certificates of origin for the goods and permit for transporting them. It was established that the products had been smuggled from Ukraine through the Transnistrian region by avoiding Bulboaca customs post. The merchandise was to be sold in Chisinau markets. The persons are liable to fines of up to 500 lei. Forty-eight boxes of frozen poultry weighting 720 kg have been discovered in a Ford-tranzit car traveling along the Harbovet-Chisinau route, at the entrance to Bulboaca village. The merchandise was valued at about 21,600 lei. The driver aged 23, resident of Anenii Noi district, did not have certificates of origin. 1,800 kg of frozen poultry worth 54,000 lei without certificates or origin have been found in a Mercedes driven by a 25-year-old man from Comrat district. Under the legislation, the smugglers are liable to fine of up to 500 lei. The goods are seized.