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The mystery surrounding a Romanian diver found dead in the sea off Kocaeli six months ago has been solved, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported Monday.
The diver was attempting to retrieve drugs hidden beneath a ship that had sailed from Italy to Türkiye, but died during the dive.
The diver's three accomplices fled the country following his death, according to the report.
A body dressed in diving gear was found approximately 200 meters off the coast in Kocaeli's Basiskele district on Jan. 24.
An autopsy determined the body belonged to Robert Stoica, a 32-year-old Romanian citizen who had been reported missing since Dec. 13, 2025.
According to Haber Denizde, fishermen heading into the Gulf of Izmit reported on Jan. 24 that they saw a motionless person in diving gear floating on the water's surface.
Teams from the Kocaeli Provincial Police Department's Maritime Port Branch Directorate were dispatched to the area, and the body was recovered and taken to the morgue at the Kocaeli State Hospital for identification and autopsy procedures.
Police determined that the body, which had a large dove and portrait tattoo on the chest, stars on both arms, and a large tattoo on the left arm, could belong to Stoica, who had been reported missing by his family in Istanbul on Dec. 13, 2025.
Stoica's family traveled to Kocaeli and identified him, and DNA samples were also taken for official confirmation. Legal procedures to send the body back to Romania were subsequently initiated.
Romanian media reported that Stoica told people he had "work to do" before departing for Türkiye on Dec. 10, 2025, and that he entered the country as a tourist.
He last spoke to his girlfriend on Dec. 13, 2025, after which contact was lost.
According to NTV, Stoica had traveled from Romania with three friends on Dec. 10, 2025.
The four men were allegedly tracking a ship that had departed from Italy and anchored in Kocaeli, to retrieve drugs concealed in grates fitted to the vessel's underwater hull.
Stoica died during the dive near Derince.
His mother, in filing the missing persons report, had said her son traveled to Türkiye for work.
Following a police investigation, authorities believe the Romanian diver descended to retrieve a drug cache hidden beneath a ship that had arrived in Türkiye.
The presence of tools such as a pipe wrench and pliers on Stoica's lifeless body, recovered after he apparently suffered a diving injury, reinforced these suspicions.
Following Stoica's death, his accomplices were found to have left Türkiye.
The investigation continues, and authorities are working to identify the ship beneath which the drugs were hidden.
Murat Kulakac, a retired naval petty officer, three-star diving instructor with the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation, and head of the Degirmendere Underwater Community (DESSAT), analyzed the case for Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Jan. 26, before the drug-smuggling motive was confirmed later by NTV.
Kulakac said the diver had made a fatal error by diving alone, and that the pliers found on the body strengthened suspicions of illegal scrap retrieval or equipment removal.
"Based on the data we have, we believe this involved a very serious rule violation, because this was a single diver diving alone," Kulakac said.
Kulakac said the equipment found on the body indicated that the diver was professional.
"Looking at the gear, his equipment was complete. We normally use a single tank. He had taken a double tank on his back so he wouldn't run out of air. He brought a second regulator in case one failed. He had actually brought along the tank and the regulator that should have belonged to a second companion, to use in case of a problem. I don't think the issue was a lack of air or regulator failure, because he had a second regulator. But we are human, and our physiology differs from person to person," he said.
"Winter water temperatures likely played a role, potentially triggering an underwater shock. Because he was diving solo without a companion to assist him, he may have run into distress. Decompression sickness is unlikely, as his tank was recovered with 140 bar of air remaining, more than enough reserve. Furthermore, an assessment of his high-quality equipment indicates he was an experienced diver," Kulakac had noted back then.
Regarding the pliers and pipe wrench found on the diver, Kulakac offered the following assessment: "Unfortunately, there is an economic hardship in our country. People dream of making money easily through shortcuts, but no such life exists; there's no way to earn something without working hard. The industrial equipment in his possession indicates some kind of illegal activity.
"We think he may have been using this equipment to take materials or strip valuable parts from somewhere. Diving alone is also suspicious. This is among our theories. Because the deceased diver had industrial equipment with him, we believe he was conducting this type of dive," Kulakac concluded.
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