Romanian Border Police in cooperation with Europol, carried out a complex of investigative activities, which included the execution of a flagrante delicto and the execution of 22 home search warrants and 26 search warrants on vehicles.
On 29.08.2026, at around 21:30, a car and a truck were stopped in traffic in order to carry out vehicle searches on the means of transport that had entered Romania through the area of Giurgiu municipality. Following the check, a significant quantity of cigarettes was discovered in the cargo compartment of the truck, concealed in a consignment of onions.
The searches were carried out in the counties of Teleorman, Neamț, Bacău, Vaslui, Botoșani, Iași and Giurgiu, as well as in the municipality of Bucharest, being the result of a complex investigation, carried out over approximately six months.
The research targeted the activity of an organized criminal group, made up of Romanian and Moldovan citizens, who, starting in 2025, would have introduced over 70 million cigarettes into Romania, both counterfeit and from outside the EU , which they would later have distributed and sold on the black market.
As for the modus operandi, the cigarettes were allegedly smuggled into the country via the Bulgarian border, hidden in temperature-controlled trucks. These were covered with various legally transported goods (fruits and vegetables), such as onions, oranges and melons.
The transports were accompanied by vehicles acting as forerunners, used to supervise the route and signal any possible checks by the authorities.
After entering Romania, the trucks traveled to storage facilities located in Teleorman, Neamț and Botoșani counties, where the cigarettes were unloaded and temporarily stored, to be later distributed and sold on the black market.
Following the procedural activities carried out between 29–30 August 2026, 6,337,197 cigarettes were confiscated, along with other material evidence. Nine vehicles were also seized to institute precautionary measures. At the same time, during the documentation of illicit activities, another 7,199,780 cigarettes were confiscated.
The total damage caused to the state budget is estimated at approximately 62,592,943 lei (11,941,826 euros).