Three employees of Customs Service and four Border Police officers from Otaci Border Point and a driver were detained today after several searches conducted by the Anti-corruption Prosecutors together with employees from the National Anti-Corruption Center.

The representative of the Prosecutor General's Office, Maria Vieru, confirmed the information for Deschide.MD, noting that the Anti-corruption prosecutors, along with CNA employees, conducted searches this morning, at the Otaci Customs Office.

"The searches were carried out in the framework of a criminal case initiated on the fact of passive corruption, committed by several persons, with extortion. As a result of the criminal investigation, were detained 8 people: 3 customs officers, four employees of the Border Police and a driver," added Vieru.

According to the same source, a driver was gathering 200 lei from each passenger to speed up the passage of customs control and border police.

It is important to mention that the information about conducting these searches was confirmed by the head of Customs Press Service, Cristina Rau, who informed us that the details of this operation will be provided later today.

We will return with details.

We remind you that on September 30, twenty-eight employees of Customs Offices from Tudora and Palanca were detained by the Anti-corruption Prosecutors and CNA officers, being suspected of passive corruption. It is about customs officers, heads of laps, heads of post, and deputy head of the Bender Customs Office.

Then the detentions took place as a result of major searches at Tudora and Palanca border checkpoints, but also at the homes of suspects. The Prosecution Groups raided this morning, to gather evidence of illegal collection of funds by customs inspectors from people who were carrying agricultural food products to the Ukrainian market. In exchange for failing border controls and not revealing possible violations, the inspectors were charging illegal fees from travelers.

The shift manager and customs inspectors of Tudora border checkpoint, during the performance of duties, by corrupt behavior, under various pretexts claimed, extorted, accepted and received from different people crossing the customs the Tudora post, financial means, which they have accumulated, keeping them in the service office. After an unannounced audit conducted recently by inspectors of the Department of Homeland Security Customs Service, were detected in the cabinet of the service office of the the shift manager of the Tudora border checkpoint, money in different currency.

Operative inspections were made also at the Palanca border checkpoint, and the prosecutors have found similar criminal activity, which has a continuous nature. As a result of special measures of investigation, of the actions of a criminal investigation and hearing of witnesses, it was found that the money would not be stopped at inspectors, but would have been transmitted to the shift managers, who in turn were transmitting them to the Heads of Border checkpoints. Finally, the collected means wold be reached at the Chief of Customs Bureau of Bender.