site.btaOver 1 Mln Cigarettes worth BGN 300,000 Seized at Lesovo Border Checkpoint

Smuggling of over 1 million cigarettes worth BGN 300,000 was prevented by customs officers at the Lesovo border crossing point. The illegally smuggled tobacco products were found in a truck driven by a Turkish citizen, the Customs Agency said Friday.

The truck arrived at the checkpoint on February 4, around 21:50. The driver declared that he was transporting parcels with groupage goods from Turkiye to Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in transit through Bulgaria. Further inspection of the truck showed that a total of 1,034,000 pieces of cigarettes of various brands were concealed inside six of the pallets in the cargo.

Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated on the case by a customs investigator under the supervision of the Yambol District Prosecutor's Office.

Over 6.412 million pieces of smuggled cigarettes were detained by the customs officers at the Lesovo border checkpoint in the past 2024, which is over 2 million pieces more than 2023.