International Drug Ring Leader Arrested In Bucharest

Vasile T. has been wanted for 13 years by Australian authorities, to carry out a prison term under charges of importing and holding cocaine.

 

The man, together with two of his “under-bosses,” arrested on the same day, was arrested for 29 days.

 

If found guilty, the three men could serve a 25-year prison term.

 

The Border Police said investigations in this case began several months ago, after information received from Australian and Dutch authorities indicating the existence of a strong and complex cross-border crime ring, which involves Romanian citizens, as well as foreign ones, from Holland, Germany, Italy, Australia and Latin America, and which is active in international drug trafficking between South Africa and Europe.

 

Investigators learned the group’s activity spans over several continents, bypassing Romania, and the leader was T. Vasile from Bucharest.  Authorities in Australia and three Latin America states wanted T. Vasile under charges of involvement in countless operations connected to narcotics trafficking.

 

In 1995 he managed to leave Australia using a fake passport and thus succeeded in answering to the law.

 

In addition, after fleeing the country, he continued in his “line of work,” as investigator data reveals that his group organized, starting with 1995, at least 18 transports of cocaine from Latin America to Australia.

 

T. Vasile was the “middleman” as he was connected to the suppliers in Latin America as well as the “beneficiaries” in Australia, Holland, Germany, Italy and other countries. To minimize risks, he did not get involved in transports and used “mules” to carry the “cargo” for him. Most “mules” were Romanian citizens.

 

The mules were recruited and “processed” (they were sent to take the drugs from South America and taught how and where to take the drugs in the target states), by the two “under-bosses,” Romanian citizens Alexandru Z. (25) and Laura K. (31), with whom the leader was in constant contact.