site.btaTurkish Customs Seize 114 Kilos of Drugs in Fuel Tanker at Kapikule Border Checkpoint

Turkish customs authorities at the Kapikule crossing on the Turkish-Bulgarian border near Edirne have seized 114 kilograms of narcotics from a fuel tanker truck, the Demiroren news agency reported.

The customs inspectors directed the tanker, which was designated for transporting hazardous chemical substances and had entered Kapikule empty from Bulgaria, to a risk-analysis X-ray scanner. Through video surveillance, inspectors noticed that instead of driving the truck into the scanner, the driver parked it in the entry parking lot on the Turkish side. Based on this, the vehicle was placed under continuous observation.

When the driver, assuming the surveillance had been lifted, returned to the customs checkpoint five days later, the truck was X-rayed. The scan revealed suspicious concentrations and chemical traces on the floor. Officers in protective suits and a sniffer dog carried out a thorough search and uncovered 114 kilograms of drugs in the rear section of the vehicle.

The driver, whose name has not been disclosed, was handed over to the Edirne court, which ordered his arrest on charges of drug trafficking.