Romanian anti-graft police early Tuesday raided five checkpoints on the border with Serbia and detained about 30 people, in an operation targeting customs officers and policemen involved in cigarette smuggling, local media reported.

Searches were also conducted at dozens of addresses in nine departments and in the capital city Bucharest, the AFP reported.

The operation was carried out after 59 customs and police officers were arrested last week during a similar operation on the northern border checkpoint of Siret.

Romanian prosecution said each cigarette smuggler was charged 35 euros by the police and 12 euros by the customs officer on duty.

That way up to 6.000 euros could be collected by a 12-people shift on a checkpoint, the prosecutors stated.

In order to gather evidence, investigators had installed computers equipped with cameras and microphones, the AFP said.