711,000 pieces (35,550 boxes) of smuggled cigarettes were found by customs officers at the Lesovo Customs Post in insulating thermal panels transported by a truck.
The truck with a foreign registration arrived at the Lesovo Customs Post on 29.01.2026 in the evening on an incoming route into the country from Turkey. The driver, a Turkish citizen, presented documents that he was transporting groupage goods from Turkey to Romania in transit through Bulgaria. Based on a risk analysis, a thorough customs inspection of the vehicle was carried out. During the control actions with specialized X-ray equipment, suspicious areas in the cargo were identified. During the subsequent physical inspection, customs inspectors discovered that three of the transported pallets contained declared insulating thermal panels, which were cut out and filled with cigarettes.
A total of 711,000 pieces (35,550 boxes) of cigarettes of various brands, with a Turkish excise stamp, were seized. The value of the smuggled tobacco products amounted to over 100,000 euros.
Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case based on the inventory of the Burgas Customs Territorial Directorate, which is being conducted by an investigating customs inspector under the supervision of the Yambol District Prosecutor's Office.
In the last week alone, customs officers from the Lesovo Police Station seized over 1,000,000 pieces of cigarettes, preventing two attempts to smuggle excise tobacco products to EU countries. In the first case, 325,000 cigarette butts were found among furniture in a truck traveling from Turkey to the Netherlands.