However, upon closer examination, these are medications clearly intended for personal use while traveling.
In the first case, officers at the Tudor customs post, in cooperation with the border police, discovered 42 tablets containing substances subject to special control, which were being transported without the required documentation.
The medications were found in the personal luggage of a 53-year-old non-resident. He was unable to present medical prescriptions or other documents confirming his right to transport the tablets across the border.
In accordance with legal provisions, the transport of medications containing substances subject to special control across the state border is permitted only with the appropriate documentation. The tablets were seized, and the case was documented to establish all the circumstances and apply the measures provided for by law.
In the second incident, a Moldovan citizen was involved while traveling through the Costesti customs checkpoint on a bus operating the regular Oradea–Chisinau route.
Following a thorough physical inspection of the passengers’ luggage, 60 tablets of psychotropic substances (of two types) were discovered in one of the bags; the transport of such substances across the customs border is subject to special regulations.
The owner of the luggage, a 36-year-old Moldovan citizen, was unable to present supporting documents indicating that the substances were intended for specialized medical treatment.
The tablets were also seized.
The fact is that in both cases, judging by the photographs provided by the Customs Service, the medications were purchased legally, in their original packaging, at pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription.
An Inhumane Practice
Many travelers take sedatives (mild tranquilizers or antidepressants) with them on trips, purchasing them in their home countries at pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription. They pack small amounts of these into their travel first-aid kits, along with medications for high blood pressure, headaches, fever reducers, anti-diarrheal drugs, and so on.
Under Moldovan law, in such cases, travelers must also have a separate prescription signed and stamped by a doctor. Although everyone—including customs officials and border guards—fully understands that this simply deprives people of the medications they need.
For example, before boarding a plane, a passenger will have medication confiscated that was prescribed to treat their fear of flying or claustrophobia. What are they supposed to do next?
These inhumane regulations were developed quite recently by the Moldovan Ministry of Health, citing, of course, “European practice.” However, anyone who has been to Europe can confirm that border guards and customs officials there do not rummage through travelers’ luggage in search of 10–40 pills.
Perhaps Moldova, too, should reconsider this largely flawed practice, which casts the country in an unflattering light in the eyes of foreigners and its own citizens?
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