site.btaLarge Quantity of Illegal Cigrattes Seized at Bulgarian-Turkish Border

Customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo customs post prevented an attempt to smuggle 539,200 cigarettes, discovered during an inspection of a truck entering the country from Turkiye, the Customs Agency reported Sunday.

On Friday morning a tractor-trailer with Turkish registration arrived at the customs point at the border crossing. The driver, a Turkish citizen, presented to the customs officers documents for the cargo, which described it as waffles transported from Turkiye to the Netherlands. Under the 'risk analysis' method, the vehicle was selected for a thorough customs inspection, including an X-ray, which noted abnormal densities in the cargo hold. Some of the boxes were filled with cigarettes instead of the declared goods. 539,200 cigarettes (26,960 cartons) of cigarettes with Turkish excise duty stamps were found, worth BGN 200,886.
Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case by a customs investigator under the supervision of the Haskovo District Prosecutor's Office.