Marijuana trafficking worth over 6 million euros prevented at Kapitan Andreevo, Bulgaria
Marijuana trafficking with a total weight of nearly 740 kg was prevented at Kapitan Andreevo BCP during an operation by the National Customs Agency with the participation of the Directorate General for Combating Organized Crime and the Directorate General for Border Police. The value of the narcotic substance at court prices is over 6 million euro.
Information about the case was announced during a briefing at the Kapitan Andreevo BCP with the participation of Ivan Stoyanov, the District prosecutor of Haskovo, Stefan Bakalov, Head of the Drug Enforcement Department at the National Customs Agency, Emil Borisov, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime of the Ministry of Interior and Iliyan Gyorchev, Head of the Kapitan Andreevo Border Crossing Point Group at the Directorate General for Border Police.
The case is yet another proof of the coordinated and targeted actions of the Bulgarian institutions against drug trafficking, said Stefan Bakalov, Head of the Drug Enforcement Department, and recalled that the Kapitan Andreevo BCP is a major land border crossing between the EU and Asia, and the customs officers there are directly involved in security and safety activities in the Community.
Stefan Bakalov added that this is not the first case of such trafficking being prevented at the Kapitan Andreevo BCP and specified that there are two main reasons – the price of marijuana in Turkey is 30-40 euros per gram (unlike the price in Bulgaria, which is about three times lower), and that Turkey is a hub for the Middle East. He also specifically emphasized the good interaction with Turkish partner services.
Ivan Stoyanov, District Prosecutor of Haskovo, presented the circumstances of the case: On 06.01.2026, a cargo train consisting of a tractor and a semi-trailer with Polish registration arrived at the checkpoint on the “Outgoing Freight Vehicles” route. The driver – a Polish citizen – presented documents for the transported cargo – household appliances (vacuum cleaners), from Poland and Bulgaria to Turkey. As a result of a risk analysis by employees of the “Fighting Drug Trafficking” department at the Territorial Directorate Customs Burgas, the cargo was selected for thorough control, carried out jointly with employees of the “Kapitan Andreevo” BCP. During the control actions, 5 wooden crates were found in the cargo room among the declared cargo, containing 626 packages of green grassy mass. During the field drug test, it reacted to marijuana with a total weight of 739.210 kg. The value of the seized marijuana is 6,047,233 euros (11,827,360 leva) at prices for the needs of the judicial system.
This is one of the largest cases of prevented drug exports on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, said Emil Borisov, Deputy Director of the Directorate General for Combating Organized Crime – Ministry of Interior, and commented that cross-border trafficking is always associated with organized crime. The Directorate General for Combating Organized Crime is currently working with foreign partners to further clarify the case, as there is evidence of a similar modus operandi.
Iliyan Gyorchev, head of the group at the Kapitan Andreevo BCP, specified that high security measures were taken during the operational actions with the assistance of the Directorate General for Border Police.
In the last four months, this is the second case of preventing such a large amount of narcotics and this shows the good cooperation and interaction, said Ivan Stoyanov, District Prosecutor of Haskovo, and recalled that the Kapitan Andreevo BCP is an external border of the EU and the Bulgarian institutions fulfill their responsibilities for its security.
