site.bta20 Contraband Inflatable Boats Intercepted at Border with Turkiye

The customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo customs checkpoint seized 20 smuggled inflatable boats during an inspection of a truck entering the country from Turkiye on August 10, the Customs Agency said in a press release on Wednesday.

The driver, a Turkish national, presents to the customs officials documents for the transport of groupage goods from Turkiye to Germany and the Netherlands. He stated that he had nothing else to declare, but during a check of the cargo the customs officials at Kapitan Andreevo found packages of 20 inflatable boats with reinforced bottoms and approximate dimensions of 8 metres in length and 3.5 metres in width.

The smuggled boats were seized and the driver was issued with a report under the Customs Act for attempting to carry goods across the state border without the knowledge and authorisation of the customs authorities.

Such boats are used to illegally transport migrants from the European Union to the UK across the English Channel. In the last two weeks alone, customs officers at Kapitan Andreevo have detained 45 inflatable boats of this type concealed in trucks carrying goods from Turkiye to EU countries, and a total of 69 inflatable boats since the beginning of the year.

In cooperation with the British institutions, the Customs Agency continues its work on stopping the trafficking of so-called small boats through Bulgaria, the Agency said.