site.btaLarge Amount of Undeclared USD Found at Kapitan Andreevo Border Checkpoint

Nearly 940,000 undeclared US dollars were found by customs officials during an inspection of a bus leaving the country through the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint, the Customs Agency said in a press release on Tuesday. The violation was detected in the framework of a joint operation between the Customs Agency, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, Border Police, and the National Revenue Agency to counter smuggling.

On August 5, a bus with Turkish registration arrived at the checkpoint. In the vehicle driven by a Turkish citizen, 68, identified as E. E., 28 passengers were travelling from Ukraine via Bulgaria to Turkiye. They all said they were not carrying any cash to declare. Under a risk analysis method, the bus was selected for a thorough customs inspection, including an X-ray, which noted unusual densities in the passenger compartment seats. On subsequent physical inspection, after four of the seats had been removed, it was found that a metal box had been fitted between the foam and the wooden bottom of the seats where a large quantity of US dollar notes had been concealed. The total amount of currency found was USD 939,800 (BGN 1,676,170).

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