Seven soldiers arrested for stealing fuel from Romanian military base

Seven soldiers and a civilian were placed under preventive arrest on Wednesday, November 16, for theft. They allegedly stole roughly seven tons of fuel from the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base in Romania's Constanta county.

Military prosecutors detained the suspects, and the court approved their preventive arrest for 30 days.

"On November 15, 2022, the military prosecutors of the Military Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Military Court ordered the detention of seven soldiers and one civilian investigated for aggravated theft. […] The soldiers are part of the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base, Constanţa county, and they repeatedly stole fuel belonging to the military unit during 2022, kerosene and diesel, in a total amount of approximately 7 tons, recovered or used later for personal interest," the prosecutors said in a statement quoted by Digi24.

This is the second fuel theft investigation involving the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base. A year ago, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) announced the dismantling of a crime group that stole fuel (especially diesel) belonging to the US Army from the military base.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)