Bulgaria's Customs Agency and the National Revenue Agency (NAP) launched the new school year of their joint "You Are Not Alone" campaign against drug and gambling addiction on Thursday, 15 October. The first meeting with students was held at the National School of Finance and Economics in Sofia.

Customs officers have seized more than 4,600 small parcels of drugs ordered online over the past four months. In the past week alone, they have also seized more than 700 kg of marijuana and cocaine.

Customs Agency deputy director Stefan Bakalov and Anna Mitova, NAP's director of communications, spoke to more than 200 students and teachers. The two have opened the campaign's school meetings for the third year in a row. The students asked questions and shared their own stories.

Bakalov said children need to know about three main risks: spiking, when a person is given a drug without their knowledge or consent. Polydrug use, which means taking several substances together. And online drug sales. He said the seized parcels contain products with synthetic or semi-synthetic cannabinoids, which are dangerous from the first use. "Stopping such parcels is extremely hard, because they often come across Schengen borders," Bakalov said. He added that Bulgaria is one of the few countries that also checks goods leaving for non-EU countries.

Mitova said children and young people must be protected from drugs and gambling and from the dangers around them every day, and must be told about these dangers. Social media and their surroundings put heavy pressure on them, and young people find it hard to tell true information from false. NAP has data that many children have had contact with gambling, even though it is banned under 18. So the information must reach them first-hand, she said, so they can make informed choices.

So-called "syndicate bets" have become common lately, Mitova said. An older friend, relative, brother or sister collects money from younger children and bets with it. In some cases, a parent's or relative's ID is used without their knowledge. Illegal betting websites are also a risk for young people online.

Since the start of the year, NAP has blocked more than 2,000 unlicensed betting platforms. In total, close to 8,500 illegal sites have been blocked. About 47,000 people are on the agency's Register of Persons Vulnerable to Gambling.

The problem is big worldwide, and studies point to gambling addiction as one of the common causes of suicide, Mitova said. NAP is in constant contact with addiction treatment centres, and "the information from them is that lately the most frequent patients are people with gambling addiction, including people under 18," she said.

After the talks, staff from the Anti-Drug Trafficking Unit showed how a trained dog named Gary finds hidden drugs. Students took part in the demonstration as people being "checked".

"You Are Not Alone" began in the summer of 2024 and continues the work of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Unit, which has been teaching students about the dangers of drugs for more than 25 years. Meetings, presentations and talks with students in Sofia and across Bulgaria will run throughout the school year.

Information about the campaign is available on the "You Are Not Alone" profiles on TikTok and Instagram, and on the channels of the Customs Agency and NAP on YouTube, X (Twitter), Viber, Facebook and LinkedIn.