Police search home of influencer Iulian Demeter over son's alleged online pistol order

Searches in Dâmbovița

Romanian police carried out raids on the morning of 3 November, a Tuesday, under Operation Jupiter, which is coordinated by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice together with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police. Officers from the Dâmbovița County Police Inspectorate's weapons, explosives and dangerous substances service executed 10 home search warrants in the county, working with prosecutors from the courts in Târgoviște, Răcari and Pucioasa. Judicial sources told News.ro that one of the searches took place at the home of influencer Iulian Demeter. Police published the results in a statement that gave the number and type of weapons seized.

“Seven non-lethal weapons subject to authorisation, with lethal potential, were found and seized for further investigation, five rifles and two pistols.”

Rifles5

Pistols2

Rifles

5

Pistols

2

Data from the article text

The son's online order

The investigation began after Demeter's son ordered a pistol online from a website in the Czech Republic, and the purchase required a permit under Romanian law. Digi24 and Ziare.com both put the boy at 11 years old and describe the item as an airsoft pistol. ProTV gives his age as 10 and says the order cost about 500 lei and was placed using the boy's real details. According to the account ProTV attributes to the influencer, he believed the item was a toy and planned to speak with the boy. ProTV also reports that police found a compressed-air pistol at the home, which is not lethal but can seriously injure or kill at close range. According to Ziare.com, checks showed the boy had bought a non-lethal but dangerous weapon that was not held legally.

The influencer and the case status

ProTV describes Demeter as presenting himself online as a successful entrepreneur in construction, property development and marketing, with more than 100,000 people following him. He was out of the country when the search took place, Ziare.com reports, and he told Antena 3 CNN that he did not know his son had bought a weapon. He said he checked the website his son used and saw no question about age. Demeter has not been questioned in this file, and Antena 3 CNN reports that he will be summoned for hearings later. The investigation is conducted in rem, targeting the act rather than a specific person, and ProTV says a criminal file was opened for breaching the regime governing weapons and ammunition. Police also applied two contravention sanctions and, as a complementary measure, annulled the right to carry a firearm. ProTV reports that several similar searches have taken place elsewhere in Romania against people who own weapons bought online without authorisation.