A large amount of contraband cigarettes, in the hiding places of two trucks, was found by the customs officers of the Ministry of Justice Kapitan Andreevo

Customs officers from the General Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation found nearly 980,000 cigarettes without excise labels in the caches of two refrigerated trucks entering the country from Turkey.

On April 18, 2020, two trucks driven by Ukrainian citizens arrived one after the other on the route “Incoming trucks”, which presented to the customs officers regular documents for the transported goods to Ukraine – tomatoes. Under the ‘risk analysis’ method, lorries are targeted for inspection with X-ray equipment showing suspicious densities in the floor of refrigerated semi-trailers. During the subsequent physical control, the customs officers found that the factory cavities in the floor of the semi-trailers were adapted to hiding places in which the smuggled cigarettes were hidden. 28,000 boxes of cigarettes were found in one truck, without an excise excise label, and in the other’s cache – 20,800 boxes of cigarettes, also without an excise excise label. The total value of the found cigarettes amounts to BGN 366,000.

Today, April 22, 2020, the Haskovo District Prosecutor’s Office filed a request with the court to impose a measure of restraint “detention in custody” against the Ukrainian citizen OR, aged 36. He was prosecuted for April 18, 2020 through the border checkpoint – Kapitan Andreevo, region Haskovo, with a truck – tractor, brand “MAN” with Ukrainian registration number and attached semi-trailer, transported across the border from the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Bulgaria, without the knowledge and permission of customs, goods for commercial purposes in large quantities – 28 000 boxes of cigarettes, brand “Ashima”, at a total value of BGN 210,000 – a crime under Art. 242, para. 1, p. “E” of the Penal Code.

In a second pre-trial proceeding on the same date, another Ukrainian citizen P.Sh., 42, was brought in as a defendant for the fact that on 18.04.2020 at the border checkpoint – Kapitan Andreevo, district Haskovo, with a truck – tractor, brand “SCANIA”, with Ukrainian registration number and attached semi-trailer, transported across the border from the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Bulgaria, without the knowledge and permission of customs, goods for commercial purposes in large quantities – 20,800 boxes of cigarettes, brand “Ashima”, at a total value of BGN 156,000 – a crime under Article 242, paragraph 1 b. “E” of the Penal Code. A request was also filed against him in the Haskovo District Court for a remand in custody.

Pre-trial proceedings have been instituted in both cases, and the investigation is being conducted by an investigating customs inspector.

Haskovo District Prosecutor’s Office considers that from the evidence gathered so far in the pre-trial proceedings a reasonable assumption can be made that the accused committed the crimes for which they were charged, and in addition to the above it can be concluded that there is a real danger OR and P.Sh. to abscond or commit another crime.

Haskovo District Court will sit today at the request of the prosecution.

Source: Customs Agency