site.btaCustoms Officers Seize Over 15,000 Packs of Cigarettes during Check on Sofia-Vidin Section of E79 Motorway

Customs Agency officers seized 15,726 packs or 314,520 pieces of cigarettes with Bulgarian excise stamps during inspection of a truck on the E79 motorway in the Sofia-Vidin section, the Customs Agency said on Sunday.

On February 1, a mobile customs team selected for inspection a truck with a Bulgarian registration number carrying goods from Greece to the UK. The truck was directed for scanning, during which areas of atypical density were identified. Upon physical inspection of the cargo, concealed tobacco products were found. The cigarettes found were of four varieties, covered with valid Bulgarian excise stamps. The entire quantity of the cigarettes was seized and a report under the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act was drawn up.

Excise goods bearing a Bulgarian excise stamp are intended for consumption in Bulgaria and may be exported to third countries or to other countries in the European Union only in limited quantities for personal use. Larger quantities should be accompanied by documents in accordance with the requirements of the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act, the Customs Agency noted. The checks carried out are part of the compensatory measures in connection with the abolition of border controls at the internal borders of the European Union after Bulgaria's accession as a full member of the Schengen area.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 24,942 packs or 498,840 cigarettes have been seized during three checks in the area of the approaches to the Danube Bridge 2 at Vidin-Kalafat, a reference on the customs agency's website showed.