Drones from Turkey found in passenger luggage
A new drone-smuggling case has raised fresh questions about security at Chișinău International Airport. On May 21, Moldovan customs stopped a 47-year-old passenger who had flown in from Istanbul. He chose the “green corridor”, which means he declared that he had nothing to report.
However, officers checked his luggage and found two drones, along with related accessories. The Customs Service of Moldova said the man is a foreign citizen. It did not publish his name. Authorities seized the equipment and now plan to confiscate it. The passenger may face penalties. At this stage, the case appears administrative, unless investigators find more serious details.
Drones from Turkey are becoming a pattern
This was not the first case on the Istanbul–Chișinău route. In February 2026, customs stopped a 21-year-old Ukrainian woman after another flight from Istanbul. She had drone engines in her luggage. Such parts fall under strategic control rules, so travellers must declare them.
Then, on May 19, officers found two more drones in the luggage of a 55-year-old passenger from Turkey. He had not declared them either. As a result, customs recorded two similar cases in just three days. Both flights came from Istanbul. Both passengers used the green corridor. In both cases, officers found undeclared drones. That no longer looks like a random mistake. It looks like a route.
Border checks still depend on outdated equipment
The head of the Customs Service, Radu Vrabie, has said that the agency opens internal investigations after such incidents. However, he has also admitted that Moldova’s border checkpoints still lack proper technical equipment. PAS MP Lilian Carp, who chairs parliament’s security committee, has made the same point. Poor border equipment, he said, remains a serious problem.
Yet the authorities have still not solved it. Therefore, drones continue to enter Moldova not through official channels, but in ordinary suitcases. For Moldovan customs, this story is becoming routine. Judging by the latest cases, it may also be gaining speed.
