Thirty Police, Customs Workers In W Romania Detained On Corruption Charges

Authorities on Tuesday launched raids at border crossings and other sites in western Romania and brought in for questioning about 100 border police, customs officials and suspected cigarette smugglers.

Those detained are suspected of smuggling large quantities of cigarettes into Romania from neighboring Serbia, and face charges of bribery and facilitating smuggling, prosecutors said. Police helicopters flew dozens of the suspects to Bucharest for hearings at the National Anticorruption Department.

Last week, 59 border police and customs employees at the Siret crossing in northeastern Romania, on the border with Ukraine, were arrested on the same charges.