site.btaPolice Seize 9 Kg of Marijuana Near Border with Greece

A border police patrol seized over 9 kilograms of marijuana hidden in secret compartments in a car near the Makaza pass, near the Bulgarian-Greek border, the Kardzhali District Prosecutor Zhelyazko Stefanov said at a press conference here on Tuesday. The briefing was also attended by Deputy District Prosecutor Dafin Kamenov and Atanas Kurtov from the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime.

The driver of the car, a 29-year-old Bulgarian citizen with a clean criminal record, was detained. Kamenov recalled that the man was stopped by a border police patrol for a routine check, during which suspicion arose that the car was transporting drugs. The vehicle was escorted to the border police station in Momchilgrad and a search was initiated.

Two caches were discovered in the thresholds of the car during the search, Kamenov said. The quantities found in them were 26 packages that tested positive for marijuana with a total weight of over 9 kilograms. The total value of the substance amounts to BGN 188,000, Kamenov noted.

Kurtov pointed out that according to their data, the shipment was intended for Turkiye via Greece, adding that over the past three months there has been a tendency for those engaged in this type of criminal activity to use various alternative routes via Greece to Turkiye. He noted that this was a joint operation with both the National Security Agency and the border police, which was initiated as a result of the interaction between the Directorate of Drug Trafficking and the prosecutor's office. 

Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated.