Cigarette smuggling stopped with gunshots in Satu Mare County; two people detained in Ukraine

Border police officers in Negreti Oas, Satu Mare County, were forced to use weapons to stop several people involved in cigarette smuggling of Ukrainian origin, the spokesperson of the Territorial Inspectorate of the Sighetu Marmatiei Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police (ITPF), Iulia Stan, said on Tuesday. "The border police officers discovered and confiscated, at the border with Ukraine, 5,600 packs of cigarettes, worth 65,520 lei. During the action, the border police officers used their service weapon firing 4 warning shots, and two citizens involved in criminal activity were detained following the notification of the Ukrainian authorities," said Iulia Stan. The pursuit began after the border police officers noticed near the state border, in the area of Moiseni locality from Satu Mare county, several people travelling from the state border inside the country, carrying bulky parcels on their backs. "As soon as possible, the Ukrainian authorities were notified about the case, in order to jointly investigate the border incident, and they subsequently informed us that they detained two men, Ukrainian citizens along the respective route, involved in the criminal activity. At the site, on Romanian territory, there were discovered five cartons of cigarettes of Ukrainian origin, which were transported to the sector headquarters, where, according to the inventory, there was identified a quantity of 4,600 packs of cigarettes with Duty-Free fiscal stamp, worth 53,820 lei," Iulia Stan specified. The cigarettes were seized for confiscation, and further investigations are underway for committing the crimes of smuggling and fraudulent crossing of the state border, as well as with a view to detecting all those involved and documenting the entire criminal activity. Also, the border police officers from the Valea Viseului Border Police Sector, Maramures County, discovered near the state border, in the direction of Valea Viseului locality, two cigarette parcels. Following the inventory, were found 1,000 packs of cigarettes, worth a total of 11,700 lei. The entire quantity of cigarettes has been seized and confiscated, and border police officers are conducting investigations to identify those involved. AGERPRES (RO - author: Leontin Cupar, editor: George Onea; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Cristina Zaharia)