A truck carrying 45,000 packs of cigarettes without Bulgarian excise stamps has been detained at the Kulata border crossing. The tobacco products are worth €172,350. Two Romanian nationals—M.M. and A.-G. B.—have been charged in connection with the case.
The inspection was carried out on November 6 by customs officers from the Combating Drug Trafficking Department and officers from the General Directorate of Border Police. The truck had a refrigerated semi-trailer and was entering Bulgaria.
The driver and the second driver presented documents stating that they were transporting mandarins. However, the X-ray inspection detected unusual densities in the cargo. A subsequent physical inspection showed that, in the front part of the semi-trailer, among the plastic crates of mandarins, there were boxes containing cartons of cigarettes.
The pre-trial proceedings concern the possession of excise goods without Bulgarian excise stamps. At this stage, the two Romanian nationals are defendants, and their guilt has not been established by a final conviction.
Sources: bntnews.bg, novinata.bg