Hundreds or possibly thousands of Romanian driving licences were reportedly discovered at a landfill in the Republic of Moldova alongside large quantities of plastic and medical waste, prompting calls for an official investigation by environmental activists and Romanian authorities.

The discovery was announced by the Moldovan National Environmental Guard, which said its members found the documents at a landfill in Porumbeni, Criuleni district, according to Newsmaker.md.

The organisation published a video from the site and urged the authorities to intervene immediately. According to the NGO, its activists had initially been alerted to the presence of improperly disposed medical waste. Upon arriving at the landfill, they found large quantities of plastic waste, medical instruments, and what appeared to be numerous Romanian driving licences.

The Romanian General Directorate for Driving Licences and Vehicle Registrations (DGPCI) said it had taken note of the reports and was assessing the situation.

"At this time, the authenticity of the documents and the circumstances in which they arrived at that location are not officially confirmed. The mere visual resemblance to a Romanian driver's licence is not sufficient to confirm its authenticity," the authority said in a statement published on Facebook, according to Digi24.

Neither the Moldovan nor the Romanian authorities have confirmed the origin of the documents or whether they are genuine, expired, cancelled, or counterfeit. No information has been released on how the licences may have ended up at the landfill.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Vchalup/Dreamstime.com)