site.btaCustoms Seize over BGN 1.7 Mln Worth of Undeclared Foreign Currency at Kapitan Andreevo

Customs officers at Kapitan Andreevo boder checkpoint have detained undeclared foreign cuurency to the equivalent of BGN 1,763,356.76, concealed in a van with Turkish plates, the Regional Customs Office in Svilengrad said Monday. The local prosecutor's office brought A.S., 43, a Turkish citizen, as a defendant in the case, the prosecution said. 

The van, travelling from Germany to Turkiye via Bulgaria, was detained at the exit of the checkpoint on July 7. The subsequent thorough check of the customs officers revealed caches in the side door and across it, containing a total of 901,590 euro banknotes in different denominations to the total equivalent of BGN 1,763,356.76.

This is the largest undeclared sum found in a van at Kapitan Andreevo, the Customs said. With this, seized foreign currency at Kapitan Andreevo from the beginning of the year already approaches BGN 20 million. According to the customs office statistics, all illegally carried cash intercepted at the border checkpoint in 2022 amounted to some BGN 27 million. The currencies most frequently found are euro and British pounds.