site.btaOver 210,000 Cigarettes Hidden in Furniture Seized at Kapitan Andreevo Border Checkpoint

Customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo Border Checkpoint seized 215,800 contraband cigarettes (10,790 packs) during an inspection of a vehicle entering Bulgaria from Turkiye, the Customs Agency said on Wednesday. 

At around 6 a.m. on January 20, a passenger car with Turkish registration plates, driven by a Bulgarian citizen, arrived at the checkpoint. Following a risk analysis, the vehicle was selected for a thorough customs inspection. 

Customs officers discovered cigarette packs concealed in the transported goods - bed bases. The cigarettes were hidden between the wooden boards and the textile parts of the furniture. The seized tobacco products bore foreign excise tax stamps. 

The cigarettes were confiscated, and an statement of violation was drawn up against the driver under the Customs Act. 

Since the beginning of the year, customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint have seized nearly 625,000 illegal cigarettes (31,250 packs), the Customs Agency said.