Customs officers detained 55,300 cigarettes at the Kalotina customs checkpoint during two inspections.
With an agreement approved by the court, the criminal proceedings against M.P. from the town of Pirot, brought in as a defendant by the District Prosecutor’s Office – Slivnitsa for holding cigarettes without excise excise (a crime under Article 234, paragraph 1 of the Penal Code). At around 11 pm on September 25, 2020, the 34-year-old man, with dual Bulgarian and Serbian citizenship, arrived at the Kalotina Customs Checkpoint with the freight train he was driving, consisting of a tractor and a semi-trailer. During a search of his driver’s cab, customs officers found a large quantity of tobacco products. Inspectors found 1,500 boxes (30,000 pieces) of Merilyn pink cigarettes labeled Duty free. Their total value amounts to BGN 7,650, and the unpaid excise duty amounts to BGN 5,310. By a court ruling, defendant P. was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment with a three-year probation period. The subject of the crime was confiscated in favor of the state.
In another case from the last days, on 03.10.2020, customs inspectors stopped for inspection a bus leaving the country, which travels from the Republic of Bulgaria to Spain. In the personal luggage of three of the passengers, the customs officers found a total of 25,300 cigarettes with Bulgarian excise labels. One of the offenders carried 3,500 pieces (175 boxes) of cigarettes, the other – 10,800 pieces (540 boxes), and the third – 11,000 pieces (550 boxes). The three were charged with administrative violations and their tobacco products were confiscated.
Source: Customs Agency