site.btaSerbian-owned Small Plane Trucked via Bulgaria Impounded in Turkiye

A small plane detected by the Turkish customs authorities at the border with Bulgaria on Tuesday will be confiscated because it was not declared in the customs statement for the Serbian truck transporting it, the Istanbul-headquartered Ihlas News Agency said on Wednesday.

The Cessna 172F, whose wings had been taken down, was uncovered in the trailer of the truck during a customs inspection at the Kapikule border checkpoint as the vehicle was entering Turkiye from Bulgaria. The aircraft weighs 1,043 kg and can take off and land on short runways, an expert said, as quoted by Ihlas.

According to the news agency, the plane was purchased by a company owned by Sasa Nikitovic, a former player and coach of Serbia's national basketball team, for a price of EUR 34,500 in November 2023. It was kept in a hangar at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.

The Turkish authorities launched a search for persons suspected of involvement in the case. The truck driver, a Serbian citizen with name initials V. M., was arrested and then released on bail. Due to the shortage of space at the airport of Corlu, the plane was transferred to a hangar of the former Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

After a compulsory six-month period during which the Cessna will be kept at Istanbul, and upon completion of the investigation, the plane will be auctioned off.