More than 90 crimes of an economic-financial nature and 443 crimes of smuggling and customs fraud were detected last year by the Border Police, the value of the confiscated goods being 315.8 million RON, Agerpres informs.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) sent on Sunday, last year more than 4 million packs of cigarettes, 27,700 kg of tobacco, 23,830 kg of hookah tobacco were confiscated.

Also, five organized groups established to commit the crime of cigarette smuggling were identified and destroyed, in which 62 people were involved.

Also, during the year 2022, 782 criminal cases were registered in which 1,045 people are being investigated and 908 contraventional sanctions were applied in the total amount of 4,665,650 lei.â

According to MAI, a Novel Research study revealed that in the year 2022, two historical records were set in the evolution of the illicit cigarette market in Romania, being the lowest annual level of trade in cigarettes originating from the black market (7.1%) and the lowest level of the illicit market recorded in a research month (6.1%), respectively the month of July.

MAI specifies that the most common method used by smugglers to introduce cigarettes into Romania is still their passage across the „green border” by carts, generally through places difficult to access by the border police, and transported to the storage places or the means of transport.

Another method used by smugglers is the illegal introduction of cigarettes into Romania through the „cap method” – hiding them in the means of transport among other categories of goods or hiding them in specially arranged locations, such as double walls, double tanks, the cited source also shows.

Also, the organization of clandestine cigarette factories on the territory of Romania is another method of operation, MAI succeeding in dismantling several such factories, identifying, on this occasion, important quantities of cigarettes, manufacturing and packaging lines, as well as various materials used in the manufacture of cigarettes.

In order to combat cigarette smuggling and tax evasion, the police intensified information-operational actions and qualified research of registered cases and established risk areas, methods and times of action. For the investigation of complex cases, mixed work teams were formed from representatives of the Border Police, the General Directorate of Customs and the General Anti-Fraud Directorate, under the coordination of the prosecutors from the prosecutor’s offices competent to supervise the criminal investigation activity.

According to the MAI, for the first time in the last 15 years, Romania is below the average of illegal cigarette trade in the European Union, and countering this phenomenon is a priority and permanent objective.

Agerpres