Detained Moldovan driver was just an employee and unaware of the truck’s contents, lawyer
A driver from the Republic of Moldova was detained at the entrance to Romania with a container full of weapons. His lawyer claims that he was unaware of what he was transporting. The defense attorney stated that the man is simply an employee of a transport company and that the preventive arrest was ordered for further investigations.
The lawyer representing Serghei Prelipcean, the driver detained at customs, announced that the court has ordered his client's preventive arrest. According to the lawyer, "the preventive arrest measure was taken, unfortunately," as the investigation is still in its preliminary phase. The investigative authorities believe that Prelipcean is "the only person who can provide the necessary information" at this stage of the investigation.
The lawyer maintains that Prelipcean is simply a driver employed by a transport company in the Republic of Moldova and had no involvement in the organization or verification of the goods he was transporting. In his statements, the defendant emphasized that he is "a simple employee of a transport unit operating in the Republic of Moldova."
According to the lawyer, Prelipcean went to the shipping unit designated by his employer to pick up a sealed container, which prevented him from checking the goods. "He did not ask any questions, nor did he have any means to verify the contents of the materials he was transporting, as they were under seal," the defense attorney stated.
Prelipcean passed through customs in the Republic of Moldova without any issues. However, upon arriving at the customs point in Romania, he "was astonished" to find that the contents of the container did not match what was indicated in the accompanying documents. This discrepancy during the Romanian inspection led to his immediate detention.
Currently, Romanian authorities are continuing their investigations to determine whether Prelipcean was involved in the alleged crimes and to clarify the circumstances under which he took over and transported the container, according to the lawyer.
We remind you that this smuggling case is being investigated separately in Romania, where Prelipcean, a 37-year-old Moldovan citizen, was detained. In the Republic of Moldova, three individuals have been arrested: the head of the company that ordered the transportation of the goods, the head of the transport company, and a broker.
Law enforcement officers have established that the goods were loaded onto a truck in the Chisinau municipality. The authorities in Chisinau do not rule out the possibility that this case could be linked to "attempts at post-election destabilization," and law enforcement agencies are continuing their investigations.
