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Smuggled cigarettes transported by drone and left in an orchard near Halmeu, Romania

On 11.08.2021, around 11.30 pm, the border policemen from the Satu Mare County, on a state border surveillance mission, noticed, in the direction of Halmeu, a small aircraft (drone) carrying a package. 

Following the investigation of the area, the border police discovered, in an orchard of fruit trees located at about 1,500 m from the border with the neighboring state, a package wrapped in black foil, which contained cigarettes.

At the same time, in the orchard, in the immediate vicinity of the package, there was a person, a Romanian citizen, aged 32 years. During the first investigations, the man directed the border guards to an annex at the end of the orchard, to the yard of the building where he lives. Here were found four more packages wrapped in black foil and a few other cartridges with cigarettes of Ukrainian origin.

The Ukrainian border authorities were informed about the event as soon as possible, in order to jointly investigate the case.