Three Romanians and four Bulgarians have been held in pre-trial detention in Romania for 30 days on charges of smuggling cigarettes into the country by evading customs control, with the damage estimated at over 14.8 million lei (2.83 million euros), Agerpres reported, citing a statement from the prosecutor's office to the Court in Constanta, BTA reported.
According to the cited source, the suspects transported and took over 14 million pieces of cigarettes for storage in a truck parking lot in the southern Ilfov County. They were imported into Romania through the Constanta-South customs checkpoint by evading customs control, and the suspects admitted that the goods originated from smuggling. The actions caused damage worth 14,872,078 lei, of which over 10.2 million lei were excise duties, 1,590,261 - customs fees, and about 3 million lei were VAT.
A statement from the prosecutor's office states that the suspects were caught at the scene of the crime on June 12, 2026, by officers of the Organized Crime Brigade in Constanta, and on June 13, 2026, a judge for rights and freedoms at the Constanta Court accepted the prosecutor's request and ordered their detention in pre-trial detention for a period of 30 days.