The value of about 110 kilograms of a powdery substance that reacted to cocaine and about 230 kilograms of grass that reacted to marijuana, found in a truck in Burgas, may reach over 15 million euros. This was announced today at a briefing by the prosecutor's office and the General Directorate (DG) of the “Border Police“ under the investigation, BTA reports.
The truck with Sofia registration was stopped on Friday at around 1:00 p.m. when entering Burgas from Sofia. During the search, pallets with bags in which the narcotics were distributed were found, announced Svetoslav Marinchev, deputy district prosecutor of Burgas and supervising prosecutor for the investigation. According to him, 110 packages of a powdery substance that reacted to cocaine and 230 packages of grass that reacted to marijuana were found. Each of the packages weighed about one kilogram.
The driver of the truck was detained, and the narcotics, the vehicle and other material evidence were seized. On Saturday, the driver was charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of distribution, Marinchev said. He specified that due to the large quantity of narcotics, the expert assessment will take time, as it must be established what exactly each of the packages contains. Only after the completion of the expert assessments can the final value of the narcotics be determined.
The preliminary estimate is about 15 million euros, and the value may be higher. Marinchev specified that these are prices used by the judicial system, which are significantly lower than the real value that the drugs would have if distributed on the street.
“The information we have - operational and investigative - is still subject to completion“, said the deputy district prosecutor. According to him, the question of whether charges will be brought against other individuals will be resolved in the course of the investigation.
The head of the Directorate General “Border Police“ Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov described the case as a record amount of narcotics seized in a single sale outside a port and a border checkpoint. This is indeed a record amount seized in a single sale outside a port and a border checkpoint, Zlatanov said. He pointed out that this involved 110 kilograms of cocaine and 230 kilograms of marijuana, and according to various market estimates, the value of the drugs is enormous and could exceed 15 million euros.
Zlatanov noted that the government has placed emphasis on combating the spread of drugs and that the Directorate General of Border Police has directed its efforts towards this goal.
“We are in such a geographical location that criminal networks are trying to use for such smuggling activities, but I think we are successfully counteracting this”, he said. In less than two months, in just three pre-trial proceedings monitored by the Burgas District Prosecutor's Office, over half a ton of drugs have been seized, Burgas District Prosecutor Georgi Chinev announced.
In his words, this is a “disturbing statistic“ that points to an even more disturbing trend.