Customs officers at the Malko Tarnovo border crossing seized smuggled cigarettes in two checks on vehicles entering from Turkey, the Burgas customs office said.
The cargo van, registered abroad, entered Bulgaria on September 24. Papers shown by the driver, a Turkish national, said the van was carrying textiles from Turkey to the Netherlands and just passing through Bulgaria.
Customs officers found hollow spaces built into the roof and dashboard. Hidden inside were 3,400 cigarettes — 170 packs — of two different brands, all carrying Turkish tax stamps.
In the second case, a passenger bus was traveling from Turkey to Romania through Bulgaria. The driver and passengers said they had nothing to declare, but customs officers found 37,000 cigarettes — 1,850 packs — marked "For duty free" in three suitcases belonging to one passenger, a Romanian national.
The cigarettes were seized. Customs officers filed charges under the Customs Act against the Turkish driver of the van and the Romanian passenger from the bus.
Officers at the crossing have stopped more than 30 attempts to smuggle tobacco products since the start of August. In two months they have seized close to 170,000 cigarettes and 6kg of smoking tobacco, hidden in vehicles and passenger luggage on the way from Turkey into Bulgaria and the EU.
The Burgas customs office reminds travelers heading in either direction to and from Turkey that at Bulgaria's outer land border with the EU, each adult passenger may bring in 40 cigarettes, or 2 packs. Anyone carrying more faces a fine under the Customs Act, and large-scale smuggling can bring criminal charges under the Criminal Code.