Customs officers found 6,260 boxes of smuggled cigarettes in the suitcases of a father and his two sons

125,200 pieces (6,260) of cigarettes were seized by customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint, hidden among the personal luggage of passengers in a car entering the country from Turkey, the "Customs" Agency reported.
On 03.09.2026, at around 21:20, a minivan with a foreign registration arrived at the checkpoint on a route from Iraq through Turkey and Bulgaria to the United Kingdom. In the customs control area, the passengers - a father with his two sons - announced that they were not carrying anything to declare. In joint actions with the officers from the General Directorate of Border Police, a thorough inspection was carried out, during which the customs inspectors discovered six plastic suitcases, one carton and a black polyethylene bag full of cigarettes in the luggage compartment. A total of 125,200 pieces (6,260 boxes) of cigarettes without a Bulgarian excise stamp were found.
The contraband tobacco products and the vehicle that served as a means of committing the violation were seized.
During the inspection, it was established that the cigarettes were owned by the driver of the vehicle, who was charged with an administrative violation under the Customs Act.
During the past month of August, customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo Police Station seized nearly 1,914,000 pieces of cigarettes (95,700) boxes, which is 100,000 pieces of cigarettes (5,000) boxes more than in the same period last year.