Law enforcement officers announced the seizure of cigarettes to the value of 14 million lei in Balti. It is presumed that a part of the cigarettes were smuggled from Ukraine. Searches were carried out in this case at the shops of a number of local traders, IPN reports.

According to the General Police Inspectorate, the traders are a man and a woman aged 61 and 45. Another woman aged 62, who offered the man spaces to store cigarettes, is also investigated. €140,000 and 490,000 lei that were allegedly earned illegally were seized from the two traders.

The fourth person came under scrutiny after he got in touch with the two traders in order to supply them with cigarettes m. The man was followed for two months and was then detained for 72 hours. He was stripped of the driving license issued by the unrecognized Transnistria authorities under another name, but with a real photo. Now the man is in state custody for 30 days.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases, the man was previously sentenced for fraud to 15 years in prison, and in Romania – to two years in prison for cigarette smuggling. Afterward, he was listed as wanted by the Bucharest Interpol National Bureau.