DAMAGE CONTROL, ROMANIAN STYLE, IN TALE OF SMUGGLED CIGARETTES

BUCHAREST, Romania - She lit up a strong cigarette, tugged her royal-blue
skirt over a knee and reclined in the armchair normally reserved for
Romania's head of state in his 17th-century presidential palace.

"I am most puzzled and concerned that this smuggling scandal is being used
against the president," said Zoe Petre, eyeing a room full of journalists
feasting on a scandal they suspect goes straight to President Emil
Constantinescu.

Constantinescu won election in November 1996 promising to rid Romania of
one of its most endemic habits - corruption.

His periodic anti-corruption drives have amounted to little. Now, the
mysterious, dead-of-night arrival of 3,000 crates of cigarettes at
Bucharest's military airport April 17, Orthodox Good Friday, threatens to
turn the corruption spotlight on Constantinescu himself.

Romania's often-lurid media have had a field day, accusing Constantinescu
of turning a blind eye to official smuggling, and his close advisers of
personal involvement.

So Petre, a former historian and now one of Romania's most influential
people since becoming Constantinescu's aide, summoned reporters for a try
at damage control.

It was tough. The cigarettes arrived on an Air Sofia plane from Greece. The
landing was not logged, much less the cargo. The $1 million or so in
cigarettes were shipped to a warehouse in a lakeside village just west of
Bucharest.

Word was leaked via fax to a newspaper widely rumored to have good links to
intelligence officers. The fax told of the smuggling and indicated top
officials were involved.

In the time it takes to inhale, heads rolled. A city official fled - only
to be dramatically captured and hauled back to Bucharest via helicopter.
The head of state security services resigned.

Then, newspapers started insinuating that Constantinescu, a quiet former
geology professor, was involved.

The chief evidence offered was that Constaniscu, as president, is
responsible for the state security services, and that he initially tried to
minimize the case - calling it a set-up, not smuggling.

The president's advisers, including Petre, deny he was involved.

But for Romanians, those mere hints were enough to confirm their long-held
belief that corruption flourishes - and always has.