site.btaRobot Vacuum Cleaners, Mini-Excavator Seized by Customs Officers in Burgas and Ruse

Customs officers from the Territorial Directorate of the Customs Agency in Ruse (on the Danube) found a large number of robot vacuum cleaners and a mini-excavator with no accompanying documentation in a container transported by a freight train, the Customs Agency said here on Friday.

The seizure resulted from coordinated actions between the customs offices in Burgas (on the Black Sea) and Ruse.

On April 1, 2025, following a request by the Burgas Customs Territorial Directorate, employees from the Operative Control Ruse sector at Ruse Customs carried out an inspection of a container traveling on a freight train. According to documents provided by the carrier, the container carried groupage consignments en route from China through Turkiye and Bulgaria to Germany.

Once the goods were unloaded, the customs officers found 801 robot vacuum cleaners and a mini-excavator that had not been declared and were missing the required origin documents. The undeclared goods were seized, and investigations into their proof of origin are ongoing.

The inspection was part of the Customs Agency’s compensatory measures following the removal of border controls at the European Union’s internal borders, after the Republic of Bulgaria was admitted as a full member of the Schengen Area.