site.btaCustoms Find Nearly 74 kg Ecstasy in Truck at Border Crossing in Ruse

Customs officers found nearly 74 kg of ecstasy in a truck at the Danube Bridge border crossing point at Ruse, the Customs Agency said on Tuesday.

The case dates back three days. A truck with Turkish registration, driven by a Turkish citizen, was stopped for inspection at the Danube Bridge border crossing. The truck was carrying goods from the Netherlands to Turkiye.

Areas of suspicious density in the front of the cargo hold were identified during the mobile X-ray system inspection. There, customs officers found two cartons containing black polythene pill packets of different colours and irregular shapes. Their total weight was 73,635 grammes. Field drug tests performed reacted positive for ecstasy.

Ruse Regional Prosecutor Georgi Georgiev told BTA that the driver was arrested for 72 hours. The court will be asked to impose on him the most severe detention measure. The man is charged with smuggling drugs in particularly large amounts. The value of the seized amount of ecstasy is about BGN 800,000.

For such a crime, the law provides for a penalty of 15 to 20 years in prison.