VIDEO // Organizer of smuggling with cocaine hidden in TV set sent to trial in Moldova

The organizer of an operation of smuggling cocaine worth 1 million lei, hidden in a television set, will appear in the dock. The Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Causes (PCCOCS) announces that it has completed the investigations and is sending the organizer of the smuggling scheme to trial. In September 2025, he was extradited from Spain.

The case dates back to May 2022, when a “Mi” model TV set was brought from Madrid to Chisinau in a minibus transporting parcels and passengers. The device was picked up by an accomplice of the defendant, who was supposed to deliver it to another member of the criminal group for portioning the cocaine, packaging it in smaller doses and placing it in hiding spots, including in garbage containers in Chisinau.

“The drug sales scheme managed by the defendant operated via the Telegram mobile application, and after remotely ordering and paying for the drugs, clients received the exact coordinates where they could pick up their dose,” PCCOCS notes.

Both the courier who received the TV set containing the drugs and the woman responsible for portioning them, including for selling marijuana, have been earlier sent to trial. At the same time, law enforcement officers were searching for the organizer of the scheme, a 31-year-old man from Rezina, who was extradited from Spain in September 2025.

PCCOCS prosecutors say that the offender is also being sent to trial for another attempted drug smuggling operation, this time involving amphetamine. A postal parcel, sent from the Netherlands, was detected by the Customs Service, and a supplementary investigation was launched in this case. Prosecutors are also checking his involvement in other similar drug trafficking activities.

If found guilty, the organizer of the cocaine smuggling operation faces up to 15 years in prison, under the Criminal Code.