Turkish citizen detained in Romania while transporting 30 kg of cocaine

A Turkish citizen was detained on Saturday, April 4, by Romanian prosecutors after being caught transporting approximately 30 kilograms of cocaine.

Prosecutors from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism – Mehedinți Territorial Office ordered the detention of the 45-year-old Turkish citizen, a truck driver, for international and domestic trafficking of high-risk drugs, according to an official statement.

“The measure was taken after, on 03.04.2026, the defendant, a driver of a freight road transport vehicle, was caught in the act while transporting approximately 30 kilograms of cocaine, a high-risk drug. The prohibited substance, divided into 33 packages, was found inside the tractor unit, stored in two bags,” the authorities stated.

The prosecutors also asked the court to hold the driver in preventive arrest for 30 days.

The investigation was carried out with support from judicial authorities in other EU countries, but also officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the Craiova Organized Crime Brigade, the Timișoara Organized Crime Brigade, police officers from the Orșova Municipal Police, as well as gendarmes from the Mehedinți County Gendarmerie Inspectorate.

Romania is fast becoming an emerging drug consumption market connected to European distribution networks, according to a DIICOT report from earlier this year. Last year, over 3 tons of drugs were seized in Romania. Roughly 1 ton was high-risk drugs.

(Photo souce: DIICOT.ro)