Customs officers found undeclared currency with the equivalent of BGN 1,313,835 during three inspections of two buses and a truck leaving the country.
In one case, a bus with Romanian registration arrived at MP Kapitan Andreevo on 25/09/2022. In the vehicle, driven by a Romanian citizen, 19 passengers and two drivers were traveling from Romania through Bulgaria to Turkey. According to the “risk analysis” method, the bus was selected for a thorough customs inspection, including an X-ray. During the subsequent physical check, customs officials found five polythene bags hidden in a factory cavity under the last row of seats. Euro banknotes were found in two of the envelopes and British pounds in three envelopes. The total amount of undeclared money is 201,000 euros and 70,000 British pounds with a total BGN equivalent of 548,344 BGN.
A few days before, on 22/09/2022, during an inspection of another Turkish-registered bus traveling from Romania to Turkey, undeclared 120,000 euros with a BGN equivalent of 234,699 were found. The banknotes were hidden in a package placed on the floor of the area between the driver’s seat and the driver’s window.
The third case of detected undeclared currency is from 23/09/2022. A truck traveling from Belgium via Bulgaria to Turkey was selected for a thorough customs check, during which bundles of euro banknotes of different denominations were found in the driver’s cabin, under the batteries and next to the tank . The total amount of the discovered currency is 271,390 euros with the BGN equivalent of 530,792 BGN.
In the cases, rapid proceedings were initiated by investigative customs inspectors under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office, Haskovo-Territorial Department – Svilengrad. The drivers of the three vehicles – one Romanian and two Turkish citizens – have been charged as accused. The crime is qualified under Article 251, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, for each of them.
Source: Customs Agency
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