PCCOCS prosecutors and Moldova’s Border Police announced on 16 October 2026 they had broken up a smuggling scheme involving cars stolen in Switzerland and Germany. Three vehicles — a Mercedes-Benz GLC 300d, a Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG and a BMW 730d — valued by police at more than 2.67 million lei, were allegedly brought in illegally to be stripped and sold for parts. This is from official statements; it is not a verdict.

According to the Border Police, the cars were on international wanted lists. They were allegedly brought across the border with forged documents on origin and identity, with stand-in drivers and false data about the drivers. The aim, in the investigators’ account, was to cut them up and sell the parts.

Cooperation with authorities in Iași turned up a fourth stolen car, a Toyota, and a garage rented by the main suspect, aged 37, where a vehicle was being dismantled. The man’s name is not in the statements. Pre-trial detention is not a conviction.

Nine searches were carried out in Chișinău: four homes, three vehicles and two dismantling yards. Phones, laptops, SIM cards, nine vehicle documents and 13 artisan-cut components with VIN codes were seized. Police say 12 vehicles were found being stripped; the warehouses of one yard were sealed.

Four people are suspected. The main suspect was charged and placed in 30-day pre-trial detention at Penitentiary No. 13 in Chișinău, by an investigating judge. The other three are being investigated at liberty. PCCOCS notes the same man also figures in an older smuggling and fraud case from 2020, before the Hâncești court.

The figures differ slightly: prosecutors speak of more than 2.5 million lei, police of more than 2.67 million. The detailed models (GLC 300d, CLA 45 AMG, 730d) come from the Border Police release. The investigation continues, with the presumption of innocence.

The discovery track is Ziar.md, which cites PCCOCS. The facts in this article follow the Border Police and specialised prosecutor’s statements.

Image: Photobank MD, Centru sector courthouse, Chișinău, public domain, Wikimedia Commons. A court building, not the 16 October 2026 searches.

Sources consulted: Stolen cars from Switzerland and Germany brought to Moldova to be sold for parts — searches — Ziar.md; From Germany and Switzerland to dismantling in Moldova: smuggling scheme worth over 2.67 million lei — Border Police; Smuggling scheme with cars worth 2,500,000 lei uncovered. Four people under investigation — PCCOCS.