It isn"t that clear what was the goal of yesterday"s raid by the dozens of policemen, gendarmes, Fraud Squad inspectors and customs officers: was it to uncover the fuel smuggling, the smuggling of agricultural products or any other kind of smuggling?
There is one essential distinction, between fuel and food products, even though contraband remains a crime, regardless of what is being smuggled.
Aside from the temptation of getting rich that is driving smugglers, the smuggling of food products meets a national need due to the pauperization of the population, whereas fuel contraband is guided by nothing else except greed.
* Joint action in the Constanța Port area
The Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs, through the specialized structures of the Romanian Police and of the Romanian Gendarmerie, in cooperation with the Fraud Squad and the National Customs Authority and with the help of the Romanian Metrology Office, starting today, March 17th, a major control in the area of the port of Constanța.
The objective of the joint action consists of the verification of the authorization and operating documents of the customs warehouses, the legality of the use of the storage, transfer and measurement systems. The raid will also check the origin of the energy products held and their release from the warehouses.
The action which began today is part of the cooperation between several institutions to prevent and fight the tax evasion and the undermining of the Romanian economy through the smuggling and illegal distribution of goods into the country through the ports of the Black Sea. Another goal was to fight tax evasion on commercial operations performed through these areas and the creation of organized criminal factions.
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
(The Public Relations and Information Department - The Ministry of A
