Customs officers detained 1,606 liters of high-proof alcohol without proven origin and quality, as well as without a Bulgarian excise stamp and documents under the Excise and Tax Warehouses Act (ZADS) during two separate inspections on the territory of the TD “Customs Varna“, reported the “Customs“ Agency.
In the period 14 – On October 17, 2026, customs mobile teams of the Central Customs Administration carried out intensified inspections in the area of Varna Customs, including the Varna and Shumen districts, in order to establish violations of excise legislation in the storage, production and trade of alcoholic products. A total of four inspections were carried out in different types of facilities - tax warehouses, tourist facilities and private properties. Two of the inspections ended with findings, in which a total of 1606 liters of alcohol (rakia) without proven origin and quality were seized.
In one of the cases, a total of 431 liters of rakia, marked as “apricot“, “grape“ and “plum“, was discovered by customs officers behind the bar of a restaurant, in other premises of the same tourist complex, as well as in a storage room of the complex. The alcohol was stored in plastic water tubes. The menu of the establishment included draft alcohol called “homemade rakia“. An act under the Anti-Drugs Act is pending in this case.
In the other case, 1,175 liters of alcohol were found in two private properties. It was established that the alcohol was owned by an individual who, at the beginning of the inspection, sold draft alcohol – rakia, without a Bulgarian tax stamp, to the inspection team from the Central Customs Administration and the Directorate General “Fiscal Control“ of the National Revenue Agency. Distillation facilities that were not currently in operation were also found on site, as well as numerous empty plastic tubes. The proceedings in this case continue. The site was found to lack a fiscal device, which is a violation of Art. 7 of Ordinance H-18/2006 in connection with Art. 118, para. 4 of the VAT Act, for which an Act of Establishment of an Administrative Violation was drawn up and served.
According to experts, such findings are not isolated cases. Since the beginning of the year, customs officers have carried out over 1,000 inspections related to alcohol and alcoholic products, which represents one third of the inspections under the VAT Act. In about 20 percent of cases, alcohol of unclear origin was found.