Retired embassy official detained at Ukraine-Romania border

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A Mongolian national was caught over the weekends at the Djakovo border point of Ukraine while attempting to smuggle 29,145 packs of cigarettes in eight boxes, which were marked as diplomatic pouches. The offender was D.Dokhombayar, a retired official, who worked at the Mongolian embassy in Budapest, Hungary, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia on Tuesday. D.Dokhombayar had worked at “TechnicImport” and “Mongolimpex” ventures under the former trade ministry, until he was appointed to work at Budapest embassy in 2004. After the end of his first diplomatic appointment in 2007, he was once again appointed to the Embassy and worked there between 2011 and 2015. He retired in August, 2015. The person, who accompanied D.Dokhombayar is not a foreign services official. The diplomatic pouch signs were false, and are not used in Mongolian foreign ministry and any other diplomatic missions abroad. “This is the first case in the past 2-3 years in diplomatic services of Mongolia. One should not consider him/herself a diplomat as soon as he or she possesses a diplomatic passport, which is not a criterion for a diplomat”, noted FM L.Purevsuden at the press briefing.