Romania: Top Customs Official Arrested on Corruption Charges

Cornel Costea, the head of the customs office in Ploiesti, southern Romania, was placed in 29-day custody for alleged bribe taking. Anti-corruption prosecutors say Costea accepted around €40,000 in exchange for helping a local company avoid customs controls for the merchandise it imported from Turkey. Other individuals from the Ploiesti customs office are also under investigation. This is just the latest in a series of corruption cases involving border officials. Early this month, the head of the National Customs Authority, Radu Traian Marginean, was arrested on charges of taking bribes for helping a candidate obtain the post of customs chief at an office in northwest Romania. Furthermore, more than one hundred border police have been detained for alleged involvement in smuggling cigarettes from Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The arrests on the borders come as Romania struggles to achieve its goal of joining Europe's border-free "Schengen" zone in March, a prospect that seems increasingly unlikely. This embarrassing setback has been widely linked to criticism of Romania within the EU for having failed to meet its commitments to deal with entrenched graft. Most Romanians view corruption as an endemic problem. Prime Minister Emil Boc’s government has stepped up efforts in recent months to tackle the issue, but figures released by the anti-corruption prosecutor's office show that it remains a serious problem, particularly within the judiciary and in the law-enforcement sector.