Investigation at Bucharest detention centre: officers rewarded for bringing in drinks and mobile phones
The Prosecutor's Office attached to Bucharest Tribunal has dismantled a group that operated inside a custody unit, where state-paid officials received bribes to breach regulations.
Investigation at Bucharest detention centre: officers rewarded for bringing in drinks and mobile phones
Officials of a law enforcement institution in the capital have been caught receiving improper benefits in exchange for breaching their own operating regulations. The two workers, together with four accomplices, formed part of a criminal group that operated within the perimeter of a unit where persons are deprived of liberty, according to Digi24.
Magistrates at the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office have initiated criminal proceedings against the six individuals. The offences for which they are being prosecuted include corruption of public employees, provision of material benefits and introduction of prohibited goods into a monitored zone.
The incidents took place at detention unit number eight for preventive custody in the municipality. An officer, barely out of his teenage years at twenty-two years of age, was the one who actually transported bottles of fermented liquid across the institution's barriers. The fee charged for this illegal service varied between three hundred and three hundred fifty lei per delivery. Another colleague, slightly more experienced, at twenty-five years of age, assisted him in this illicit activity.
In addition to alcohol, the man in uniform made a mobile telephone device available to one of the detainees. This action allowed the prisoner to establish contact with the outside world, thus breaching the strict conditions imposed by law for such locations.
The driving force behind the entire operation were two brothers incarcerated in the same unit. The thirty-year-old was the initiator, regularly requesting supplies of alcohol and transferring money through third parties. The other, seven years older, followed the same path, remunerating the officer for deliveries.
The external logistics were managed by two associates. A thirty-one-year-old woman, who shared a relationship with one of the two convicted prisoners, and a thirty-six-year-old man ensured the chain of communication and transfer. The prisoner would verbally dictate to his girlfriend what sums and what quantities to prepare, and she would pass the instructions on to the second intermediary, who would actually deliver the goods to the man in uniform.
Authorities proceeded with the temporary detention of three of the six. The fourth, the older brother, was not subject to this measure, as he was already in custody for another offence.
On thirty June two thousand twenty-six, the competent judge at the capital's court validated the prosecutors' request and ordered the deprivation of liberty for thirty days of four of those involved. The investigation continues under the coordination of the same prosecutor's office.
Details: - Unit targeted: Detention and Preventive Arrest Centre No. 8, Bucharest - Officials involved: two officers, aged 22 and 25 - Detainees benefiting: two brothers, aged 30 and 37 - Intermediaries: a woman aged 31 and a man aged 36 - Fee: 300–350 lei per alcohol delivery - Measure imposed: 30-day preventive detention for four accused - Date of decision: 30 June 2026 - Offences: bribery, provision of bribes, illicit introduction of alcohol and mobile phones into detention centre
Source: Digi24