A total of 18 border police officers in Arad county, Western Romania, were detained for 24 hours on Wednesday evening, on bribery charges.

Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Department (DNA), the Timisoara office, carried out several searches at the Arad Border Police on Wednesday morning. Following the searches, they took 19 police officers at the DNA Timisoara headquarters for questioning, and then held 18 of them for 24 hours, reports local News.ro.

The 18 police officers could spend the next 30 days in jail if the court approves the prosecutors’ request in this sense.

The police officers allegedly received EUR 5-10 from people who smuggled cigarettes into the country, for each border passing. For a bigger transport, the policemen allegedly asked EUR 42,000. However, this transport never happened.

Sources cited by News.ro said that the police officers who were detained on Wednesday had been monitored for several months.

Border policemen arrested in Romania for bribery

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com