Drug-trafficking network in Bistrița-Năsăud dismantled after eight years – five detained
Police in Bistrița have dismantled a criminal group active since 2018 following 14 home searches. Five people have been detained and are proposed for preventive arrest.
Drug and psychoactive substance trafficking group in Bistrița-Năsăud dismantled after eight years of activity
Google News RO — Crime (ro) reports that a criminal group specialising in drug and psychoactive substance trafficking, established in 2018, has been dismantled by police in Bistrița-Năsăud County following 14 home searches carried out on 31 August. Five people have been detained.
The searches resulted in the discovery of 42 envelopes containing vegetable matter prepared for distribution, cigarettes made with psychoactive effects, tablets currently undergoing expert examination, a sum of 75,000 lei and 2,140 euros, as well as other evidence, according to the Bistrița-Năsăud County Police Inspectorate (IPJ).
Group leader, a 37-year-old man with his own "recipe"
According to a statement from IPJ Bistrița-Năsăud, the leader of the group, aged 37, reportedly prepared the psychoactive substances using a process of dilution and spraying over tea leaves, according to a formula known only to him. He reportedly coordinated the entire activity of group members, ensuring the supply and distribution of substances.
"In the course of 2018, on the basis of an old friendship between two of the persons being investigated in this case, together with another person, a criminal organisation would have been formed for the purpose of obtaining substantial income from the sale of psychoactive products," according to a statement from IPJ Bistrița-Năsăud.
The leader would have distributed the substances to group members in exchange for sums of money collected from sales. Typically, exploiting the state of dependency of the others, he would have "rewarded" them with quantities of narcotics, according to the same source.
A relative of the leader, co-opted for direct distribution
Following the initial formation, other members are said to have joined the group, including a relative of the leader. This person was reportedly assigned the role of participating in the preparation of substances and their direct distribution, benefiting from the trust generated by the family relationship, according to IPJ Bistrița-Năsăud.
Price of one gram: 50 lei
Evidence gathered during the investigation showed that the persons involved, together with five others — currently either serving sentences involving deprivation of liberty or in preventive arrest in separate cases — would have purchased, possessed, manipulated and sold various quantities of psychoactive products at the price of 50 lei per gram, according to IPJ Bistrița-Năsăud.
Recommendation for preventive arrest for 30 days
On Tuesday, the judge for rights and freedoms at Bistrița-Năsăud Tribunal was petitioned with a proposal for the preventive arrest of the five detained individuals for a period of 30 days. They are being investigated for the establishment of an organised criminal group and the unauthorised carrying out of operations with products capable of producing psychoactive effects.
The operation was carried out by police from the Bistrița-Năsăud Organised Crime Fighting Service together with the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), with support from the Cluj-Napoca Organised Crime Fighting Brigade, similar services from Sălaj and Maramureș, as well as gendarmes from the Bistrița-Năsăud County Gendarmerie Inspectorate and the Târgu-Mureș Mobile Gendarmerie Group.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)