Undeclared currency with a BGN equivalent of 447,663 BGN was discovered by the customs officers during an inspection of three vehicles. The violations were discovered within the framework of the joint operation between the bodies of the "Customs" Agency, DG "Combating Organized Crime", DG "Border Police" and the National Revenue Agency, in order to combat smuggling.
In one of the cases, on 16.05.2024, a bus with Turkish registration arrived at the station. In the vehicle with a driver – a Turkish citizen, a second driver and 34 passengers traveled from Ukraine through Bulgaria to Turkey. They all stated that they were not carrying cash to declare.
During a thorough customs inspection of the vehicle and personal examinations of the passengers, it was found that five female passengers - Ukrainian citizens, did not properly declare the currency they were carrying. A variety of cash in US dollars was hidden in their handbags, in their underwear and in the pockets of one of the women's outerwear. Amounts of US$50,000, US$40,000, US$31,700, US$30,000 and US$19,500 were found respectively. The total amount of the detected undeclared currency is 171,200 US dollars with the BGN equivalent of 301,129 BGN.
Just two days later, on 18/05/2024, undeclared currency was found in the dashboard of the driver's cabin of a truck traveling from the Netherlands via Bulgaria to Iraq. A black polyethylene bag containing euro banknotes in denominations of 100 and 200 euros was found in the hiding place. A total of 39,900 euros with a BGN equivalent of around BGN 78,000 were found undeclared.
The other case is from 14.05.2024, when a customs check was carried out on a car with a foreign registration entering the country from Turkey. The car was driven by a Turkish citizen in the presence of the owner of the vehicle and his wife, also Turkish citizens.
During the thorough inspection, the customs officers found that in a factory cavity under the bark of the trunk floor, in a paper white bag, banknotes in euros and dollars, as well as a transparent box with 8 bracelets of yellow metal, were hidden. The money found is 34,300 euros and 800 US dollars with a total BGN equivalent of 68,534 BGN. According to the expertise of the expert, the discovered bracelets are made of 22 carat gold.