The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Moldovan politician and businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc of leading an international drug cartel

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has charged in absentia the chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, with leading an international drug syndicate, according to the department’s website.

In particular, Plahotniuc was accused under Part 1 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code (creating a criminal community), as well as 28 counts of smuggling and illegal sale of drugs on an especially large scale.

Also, charges, only under Part 2 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code (participation in a criminal association), were brought against Plahotniuc’s confidant, athlete Constantin Tutu.

According to investigators, the international criminal community, of which Plahotniuc became one of the leaders in 2012, was engaged in the smuggling of hashish from North Africa to the European Union and CIS countries and subsequent sale.

“During the investigation, it was established that the former chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, having the opportunity to influence the political situation and government bodies, using criminal methods of influence on persons opposing him, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the leaders of organized crime of the Republic for the purpose of personal enrichment Moldova, including those occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports, adding that Tsuta was involved in monitoring the work of the syndicate.

The police also clarifies that as a result of a joint operation with law enforcement agencies of Moldova, Belarus and Spain, more than 60 members of the drug syndicate were brought to justice and more than a ton of hashish was seized.

As RBC writes with reference to the case materials, representatives of this criminal community were also involved in “human trafficking, pimping, contract killings, raider takeovers of banks and enterprises, theft from the financial and banking system” of Moldova.

In June, after the political crisis in the country, Plahotniuc left Moldova. The party reported that he flew “for a few days” to his family, who live in Switzerland.

Earlier in February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that Plahotniuc and businessman Veaceslav Platon organized a scheme under which more than 37 billion rubles were withdrawn from Russia. In addition, in 2017, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Plahotniuc in absentia in the case of attempted murder against Moldovan and Russian businessman Renato Usatii.

Bloomberg called Plahotniuc the richest man in Moldova.