Five Turkish citizens were arrested in Moldova for trafficking in drugs. These are suspected of smuggling 84 kg of pure heroin from Iran and Turkey into Moldova with the intention of taking these to the European Union. The drugs were assessed at 5 €million, IPN reports.

According to chief prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases Nicolae Chitoroaga, the group has been followed for two years. They determined the route by which the narcotics were to be transported. The truck that allegedly carried the drugs left Turkey for Moldova on February 19. On February 21, this crossed Moldova’s borders. The driver declared he transported vegetables that were to be sold in Moldova.

On February 23, when the suspects were unloading the cache of heroin from the truck, these were arrested. The five persons are ethnic Kurds with Turkish nationality. The Centru Court is to issue a warrant for their arrest.

According to Fredolin Lecari, head of the General Border Police Inspectorate, the suspects adjusted two units of transport to be able to hide the heroin so that this is not found during scanning. Earlier, on the territory of other states, the police seized two caches of over a tonne of heroin, with the trafficking being directed by the same criminal group.

The arrested persons will not be extradited. They face seven to 15 years in jail for trafficking in drugs in considerable amounts and two to ten years in jail for smuggling.