EUR 16 ml worth of drugs seized last year

Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) Giorgiana Hosu said on Friday that drugs worth a total of 16 million euros have been seized last year.

Photo credit: Radu TUTA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

At the presentation of the DIICOT 2014 activity report, Hosu said that there has been a slight increase in drug trafficking and consumption, but that despite that, Romania remains just a transit country.

"New psychoactive substances appeared, and this is really serious, as their effects on the consumers are really severe. Heroin is generally smuggled to Romania by crime rings made up of Turkish citizens with connections in Romania. (...) The investigations we conducted revealed that cocaine enters the country via waterfront borders and has a quite limited market, given the high price of this powerfully addictive drug. The concealment methods used were the most diverse ? caches especially created in cars, food or non-food packaging. Drugs were also impregnated, injected or, even more seriously, ingested by drug mules," Hosu said.

She added that a rise is visible in illegal dealings with cannabis which comes from Spain, and that domestic cannabis crops are also expanding.

"Five clandestine laboratories were detected in 2014, as well as 37 new substances, and drugs worth a total of 16 million euros were seized," said the DIICOT second most senior official. AGERPRES