The former head of the customs in Plovdiv, Miroslav Belyashki, was detained in April during an operation by the prosecutor’s office and the Directorate for the Prevention of Corruption and Organized Crime for participating in a cigarette smuggling scheme.
According to the indictment, he stopped an inspection of a truck transporting cigarettes in transit from Turkey. After two months in custody and house arrest, he is now free on bail.
„I was preparing for a normal working day. As soon as I entered the office, the authorities came in quite insistently. They explained to me that procedural and investigative actions would be carried out and if there was anything that should not be in the office, to report it. By early afternoon I couldn't figure out what it was about and why they were there“, Miroslav Belyashki told “This Morning“.
“There were police officers with helmets, masks, and heavy weapons – automatic weapons. I was amazed“, he added.
“There was no obstruction of inspection, smuggling, or other actions by Mr. Belyashki. He ended up at this customs checkpoint to carry out control of the customs office in Svilengrad and to meet with an employee who was seconded from Plovdiv. The actions that he allegedly committed should have been carried out by other persons – employees of the Plovdiv Customs“, explained Miroslav Belyashki's lawyer – Kristiyan Mirchev.
“The truck in question, which is alleged to have carried out smuggling, there are no prohibited goods and substances in it. There is no thwarting of customs inspection, because the truck in question was under customs supervision and should only have been moved to another customs point in Bulgaria“, Mirchev also said.
Belyashki explained that the truck had to be “accompanied“, because he received a question via an official channel of communication with the Turkish consulate in Plovdiv whether legitimate procedures for accompanying a load of a vehicle carrying excise goods – cigarettes, which were declared in accordance with the due procedure, could be accelerated.
“The truck must transit through the country, but it was detained at “Kapitan Andreevo“, because when such a load passes, there must be a guarantee for the load and possibly, if there is a deviation from the regime – for example, to stop somewhere, unload the truck and sell the cigarettes in Bulgaria. The guarantee itself serves to cover the damage to "tax that would arise," explained Miroslav Belyashki.
„According to the information provided to me, the security was insufficient. In such cases, it is permissible for the cargo to be moved under customs control," he added.
Miroslav Belyashki stated that this trip was his decision, because he combined several tasks into one in order to facilitate some administrative procedure if necessary.
According to him, there were people who did not perform their duties properly.
According to him, all this happened so that he could be fired, no longer be the director of the customs and not interfere with anyone.
„I may have interfered with some economic interests,“ admitted Belyashki.