site.btaMan Arrested after Trying to Smuggle BGN 470,000 Worth of Cannabis from Bulgaria to Turkiye

A 49-year-old man has been charged and detained by the Haskovo District Prosecutor’s Office for attempting to smuggle marijuana worth over BGN 470,000 across the border from Bulgaria to Turkiye in his car, the Public Relations Department of the Plovdiv Appellate Prosecutor’s Office reported.

The investigation is ongoing. The driver, a Bulgarian citizen, has been detained for up to 72 hours under the order of the supervising prosecutor. The Haskovo District Prosecutor’s Office is expected to request a permanent remand measure of “detention in custody” from the court, the statement added.

Earlier, the press office of the Customs Agency’s unit in Svilengrad reported that the suspect was arrested at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint on July 4. While travelling in a passenger car, he was stopped at the exit lane for vehicles and buses heading from Bulgaria to Turkiye and was directed for a thorough inspection.

During the examination of the Sofia-registered vehicle, customs officers discovered 50 vacuum-sealed polyethylene packages hidden in the factory cavities beneath the wheel arches and front bumper. The packages contained a green, leafy substance which tested positive for marijuana in a field drug test.

According to official pricing used for legal proceedings, the packages – with a total gross weight of nearly 30 kg – are valued at BGN 472,640.

According to Customs Agency data, in 2024 alone, attempts to smuggle over 514 kg of marijuana through the Bulgarian border at Kapitan Andreevo have been intercepted. The largest cannabis seizure at the checkpoint last year was 377.78 kg, worth over BGN 6 million, concealed in parcels among groupage cargo inside a truck travelling from Western Europe to Turkiye via Bulgaria.