Customs officials seized over 1 kg of anabolic steroids and other medicinal products

Customs officers from the "Customs Intelligence and Investigation" department in the Territorial Directorate "Customs"- Sofia have seized over one kilogram of a potent anabolic steroid, the Customs Agency reports. Officers at the "Bulgarian Exchange and Sorting Center" customs point seized 500 ampoules of the preparation "Testosterone Depot".

The quantity of 1.04 kg of anabolic steroid was found in a shipment from China, selected for a thorough customs check in a warehouse of a courier company in Sofia. The contents were declared as a dietary supplement. The recipient is a Bulgarian citizen. During the check, samples were taken from the substance in the shipment for laboratory analysis, which was carried out in the Central Customs Laboratory. The expertise established that instead of a dietary supplement, the substance was trenbolone enanthate. It is among the strongest anabolic steroids for muscle mass with serious side effects and health risks, the Customs Agency points out. The shipment has been seized, and work on the case continues.

In another check with X-ray equipment on a shipment from Bulgaria to the United Kingdom, testosterone in ampoules was seized. The sender is a natural person, established in Bulgaria, and the recipient is a natural person with an address in England. Upon inspection of the contents of the package, 100 boxes with five ampoules each, or a total of 500 "Testosterone Depot" - 250 mg/ml, solution for injection, were found, with a label on the packaging of the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of the Republic of Serbia. After a statement by the Bulgarian Drug Agency that the export of the preparation is prohibited, the goods were seized.

In recent weeks, customs officers from the TD Customs Sofia have seized, during other checks, 7840 tablets and over 6 kg of powdered medicinal and herbal products in passengers' luggage arriving from India, as well as 580 hyaluronic fillers and seven collagen boosters in a shipment from South Korea, the press release states.

The increased checks are part of the measures of the "Customs" Agency to limit the illegal import of medical and cosmetic products of unclear origin, which may pose a risk to the health and safety of citizens, the agency emphasizes.

In March, the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs (SDVR) announced that an illegal workshop with millions of blisters and ampoules, probably with anabolic substances, was established after an operation by the "Economic Police", during which shipments of medicinal products of unclear origin were seized in a warehouse in Sofia.