Romanian Police catch Austrian red handed with EUR 2 mln worth of heroin

A Romanian-born Austrian citizen and her two accomplices were caught on the A1 highway in Romania with 40 kilos of heroin, worth some EUR 2 million. The 44-year old Nicole Smith, the head of the drug cartel, and two other people were detained by Romanian DIICOT prosecutors on the Bucharest – Pitesti highway while transporting heroin in their cars' gas tanks. Although apprehended in Romania, the drugs were not destined for the local market. The drug runners were taking the heroin from Turkey to Austria and driving through Romania to get there.

Members of the group were using their EU citizenship status to avoid controls on the way. Nicole Smith coordinated the transport, and was in charge of finding the so called ''mules'' to transport heroin. This is not the first case that can be deemed movie-like. A series of robberies from moving trucks were recently stopped by the Police. Under cover of darkness and with the car headlights off to conceal their vehicle, Romanian criminals followed trucks, climbed out onto the bonnet of the car and stole goods from the back of trucks as they raced down the highway. More about this here. editor@romania-insider.com