Under the direction of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, an investigation is underway into three pre-trial proceedings for crimes under Art. 242, para. 2 of the Penal Code.
At the end of April 2020, at Sofia Airport, during a routine inspection, customs officers found a shipment that had arrived from Indonesia as a consignee in Bulgaria. The documents stated that it contained tea. The substance found in it was a powdery substance – a fine material, weighing 2916.90 grams. According to the results of the examination, it was found that in fact it is a narcotic substance – crushed leaves of the plant kratom (Mitragyna speciosa). The active ingredient mitraginine is unique to this plant and is responsible for its psychoactive action.
At present, the consignment in question has not been sought. Actions are being taken to investigate an attempt to smuggle a high-risk narcotic substance across the border.
The SGP is investigating another similar case, again for an international courier shipment from Indonesia containing about 2 kilograms of this type of drug.
In both cases, pre-trial proceedings were instituted by an investigating customs inspector under the supervision of the SGP.
The plant material kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a narcotic substance within the meaning and provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Precursors Control Act. The plant itself is at high risk to public health due to the harmful effects of its abuse, prohibited for use in human and veterinary medicine and is included in the list to the Ordinance on the procedure for classifying plants and substances as narcotic.
An investigating customs inspector from the Customs Agency, under the supervision of the SGP, is also investigating a case of outgoing courier shipments from a consignor in Bulgaria to a consignee in Portugal of anabolic and stimulant preparations. During inspections, 18,420 T3 liothyronine sodium 25 mg tablets and 7,144 tablets, ampoules and sachets, including Testosterone Mix and Kamagra 100 mg, were found in international consignments at the courier office.