Cigarettes and heated tobacco products detained by customs officers in the Silistra region

Bulgarian customs officers at Lesovo BCP discovered 190 000 (9500 boxes) of smuggled cigarettes in a truck carrying metal products.

The truck with a foreign registration arrived at the Lesovo BCP on 02.02.2026 on an incoming route into the country. The driver, a Turkish citizen, presented documents that he was transporting metal products from Turkey to Germany in transit through Bulgaria. After an operational analysis, a thorough customs inspection was carried out, during which the inspectors discovered boxes of smuggled cigarettes hidden among the declared goods. A total of 190 000 (9500 boxes) of undeclared cigarettes of various brands, with a Turkish excise stamp, were found. The smuggled tobacco products were seized. An administrative violation act was drawn up against the driver.

Since the beginning of the year alone, customs officers at the Lesovo BCP have seized over 1.297 million pieces of smuggled cigarettes. They were mostly hidden among declared goods in trucks traveling from Turkey to EU countries, where market prices for excise tobacco products are significantly higher.