site.btaNearly 400,000 Contraband Cigarettes Seized at Lesovo Border Checkpoint

Customs officials seized a total of 380,000 contraband cigarettes (19,000 packs) at the Lesovo border control checkpoint on October 28. The smuggled cigarettes, worth around BGN 130,000, were found during a check of a freight vehicle transporting advertising frames and posters, the Customs Agency said Wednesday.

The vehicle had a foreign registration and was driven by a Turkish national, E.K, who presented documents on the transportation of advertising materials from Turkiye to Germany through Bulgaria. During the check, the customs officials found contraband cigarettes of various brands inside cardboard boxes in between the declared goods; the packs were all with a Turkish excise duty stamp.

Pre-trial proceedings have been launched under the supervision of the Yambol District Prosecution Office.