Seventeen people selling cancer and HIV drugs were recently detained by prosecutors, following 87 searches carried out in a file on tax evasion and money laundering, with a damage estimated at EUR 2.68 million, according to the Prosecutor's Office within the Bucharest Tribunal.

The suspects allegedly exported drugs for cancer, HIV, hepatitis and mental illness to EU countries between 2012 and 2014, reports Mediafax. The drugs had been bought on the black market, in hospitals, pharmacies or abroad, in Turkey or Ukraine and were worth about EUR 35.7 million, according to the prosecutors.

The damage caused to the state budget was estimated at about EUR 2.68 million (VAT and income tax) and the overall amount of laundered money is about EUR 14.5 million.

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