Eight people, seven men and a woman, were sentenced to three to five years in jail for smuggling goods to the value of over 2 million lei. The sentence was pronounced by the Buiucani Court of Chisinau, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the defendants, by prior agreement, between September 2019 and January 2020, repeatedly organized the transportation of goods from Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova, avoiding the legal customs clearance procedures and legal introduction into the country.

The value of goods exceeds 2.4 million lei. The goods were smuggled into the country through the border segment of the Transnistrian region and were later transported by road to the municipality of Chisinau, bypassing internal checkpoints. There, the goods were stored and were sold through the agency of several retail units located in Chisinau.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

The court also ordered the seizure of three means of transport, goods, mobile phones and other property.

The sentence is not final and can be challenged in the Chisinau Appeals Court within 15 days.