On Monday, 19 October, the Oradea Court of Appeal replaced judicial control with 30 days of pre-trial detention for five defendants in the Halmeu border-crossing case. Gazeta Nord-Vest: the court allowed the DNA challenge. They were not released. This is not a conviction.

Bihor Tribunal had put them under judicial control on 14 October. Prosecutors from DNA – Oradea Territorial Service appealed. The Court of Appeal quashed that order and, retrying, allowed detention. The ruling on the measure is final. Pre-trial detention, not a judgment on the merits.

The five: border police officers Mircea Darida, Aurelian-Florin Ghiurău-Schiesz and Radu-Adrian Nergheș; customs officers Attila Juhasz and Szilard Richard Ilonczai. PresaSM and DNews24: three from the Border Police, two customs staff. The names are on the courts’ portal. Defendants, not convicts.

DNA, as Gazeta Nord-Vest reports: in 2025–2026 several border officers and customs staff are alleged to have taken from drivers, on the Ukraine–Romania frontier, between €50 and €1,900 so as not to record irregularities and to carry out only formal checks. “Are alleged to.” Bribery or complicity, as a continued offence, plus forming an organised criminal group — the prosecutors’ charges, not facts found by a court.

The same file, another measure, another date: Daniel-Constantin Căpățână, head of PTF Halmeu, 30 days’ pre-trial detention ordered earlier; Elena-Mădălina Căpățână, 60 days’ judicial control. They are not Monday’s five. PresaSM: on Thursday, 16 October, another 15 officers and customs staff were placed under judicial control. A different group, not today’s detention.

DNews24: the costs of the DNA challenge remain with the state. The DNA inquiry, with DGA support, continues. Presumption of innocence until a final conviction.

Image: Administrative Palace, Satu Mare, 19 June 2023, VargaAlex005, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The county seat, not PTF Halmeu.

Sources consulted: Răsturnare de situație în ancheta DNA de la PTF Halmeu. Toți cei cinci inculpați au fost arestați preventiv — DNews24; JUSTIȚIE. S-a terminat cu controlul judiciar! Cinci oameni de la Vama Halmeu, trimiși în arest pentru 30 de zile — Gazeta Nord-Vest.