Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors conducted six searches in Craiova yesterday, targeting the members of a group suspected of attempted terrorism after they allegedly illegally bought lethal weapons in order to ship them to armed factions in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.The members of the crime group, made up of Romanian and Lebanese citizens, are investigated by DIICOT Craiova prosecutors for attempted terrorism, failure to respect gun laws as well as human trafficking.“Hussein Kassem Ghzayer (34), a Lebanese citizen, sought to illegally buy lethal weapons (assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades etc.) and other military equipment in order to sell them to military and paramilitary factions in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria,” DIICOT prosecutors pointed out.Lebanese citizen Hussein Kassem Ghzayer is a gynecologist, having served his residency within the Craiova Emergency Hospital, juridical sources stated for Mediafax.The members of the group are also charged with recruiting and smuggling on Romanian territory Lebanese citizens under the pretext of enrolling them in university, in order to illegally smuggle them to Germany.
The group had been under the Romanian Intelligence Service’s (SRI) surveillance since October, SRI informing that the group sought to buy arms and ammunition and to facilitate a Palestinian citizen’s illegal transit to Germany.The General Border Police Inspectorate contributed to this case, “stopping a Palestinian citizen’s two illegal attempts to cross the border after he illegally entered Romania, a Palestinian whose transit to Germany the leader of the group sought to facilitate,” SRI spokesperson Sorin Sava stated.“The case concerns actions connected to terrorism, conducted in favor of groups from areas known for having a high risk of terrorism,” SRI spokesperson Sorin Sava stated.
