---
title: "Iurie Radulov, sentenced to life for ten murders, was extradited from Turkey to Chișinău"
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/88037/iurie-radulov-sentenced-to-life-for-ten-murders-was-extradited-from-turkey-to-chisinau
published: 2026-10-24T06:04:53Z
language: en
author: "Bogdan Nigai"
section: "Justice"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Iurie Radulov, sentenced to life for ten murders, was extradited from Turkey to Chișinău

> Gang leader Iurie Radulov, alias "Babior"—sentenced to life imprisonment for ten contract killings and 11 attempted murders—was extradited from Turkey and brought to the Republic of Moldova on the evening of Friday, October 23. He has been incarcerated at Penitentiary No. 13 in Chișinău, where he will resume serving his sentence, following his conditional release last year.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/e5cda785-d913-4ed7-843c-dd2a5cca4ad1.jpg)

Gang leader Iurie Radulov, alias "Babior"—sentenced to life imprisonment for ten contract killings and 11 attempted murders—was extradited from Turkey and brought to the Republic of Moldova on the evening of Friday, October 23. He has been incarcerated at Penitentiary No. 13 in Chișinău, where he will resume serving his sentence, following his conditional release last year.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the extradition procedure was initiated as early as May 2025, after Moldovan authorities learned that Radulov was in Turkey. In early October 2026, Turkish authorities detained him through international cooperation.

*"The extradition follows an action taken on May 8, 2025—immediately after confirming that Iurie Radulov was in Turkey—when the Ministry of Justice submitted an extradition request to the Turkish authorities, accompanied by the full set of supporting documentation,"* the institution stated.

Following his detention, the Ministry of Justice submitted a new request, reaffirming the necessity for his extradition. Radulov’s return to a penitentiary facility enforces a decision by the Nord Court of Appeal, issued on April 10, 2025, following an appeal filed by the National Administration of Penitentiaries; this decision overturned the ruling that had previously allowed for his release.

The General Police Inspectorate announced that Radulov arrived at the "Eugen Doga" Chisinau International Airport, where law enforcement officers took him into custody.

*"This evening, he was taken into custody by representatives of the General Police Inspectorate’s International Police Cooperation Directorate, with support from the 'Fulger' Special Purpose Police Battalion and the Centru Police Inspectorate,"* the Police reported.

Several institutions in the Republic of Moldova—including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Administration of Penitentiaries, the Border Police, and the INTERPOL National Central Bureau—carried out the operation in cooperation with Turkish authorities.

Iurie Radulov was released on parole in the spring of 2025, following amendments to amnesty legislation. These provisions were subsequently repealed; however, Radulov had already left the Republic of Moldova and was placed on an international wanted list.

Known in the criminal underworld by the alias "Babior", Iurie Radulov led one of the most violent criminal groups in the Republic of Moldova during the 1990s—a group involved in contract killings and attempted murders. The group’s victims included both businesspeople and leaders of the criminal underworld.

In the early 2000s, after fleeing the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Radulov was apprehended in Bulgaria and extradited to Chișinău. In 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ten murders and 11 attempted murders.