Cross Border CrimeNews

Ukrainian currency for nearly BGN 1,000,000 was found by Bulgarian customs officer

In a hidden place of a bus, customs inspectors from the “Combating Drug Trafficking” Department at TD Customs Rousse found 20,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnias with a leva equivalent of 984,604 leva.

On January 29, 2023, a bus driven by a Turkish citizen was stopped for inspection in the Danube Bridge-Rousse BCP. The vehicle is traveling on the route Turkey – Ukraine.

In the course of the inspection, the customs officials discovered an additional box – hidden place between the rear axles and the aisle in the passenger compartment, which contained packets of Ukrainian banknotes wrapped in black nylon and brown tape. The total amount of discovered currency is 20,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, placed in 10 packs of 2,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnias each. The BGN equivalent of the disclosed currency is BGN 984,604.

In his written explanations, the driver of the vehicle stated that the packages were given to him by an unknown person to take to Ukraine, and he himself placed them on the bus.

In this case, a pre-trial proceeding was initiated under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office – Rousse.

A day earlier, on 28/01/2023, during another inspection in the Danube Bridge – Vidin area, customs inspectors found 200,000 undeclared Danish kroner in the first-aid kit in the cabin of a Turkish-registered truck traveling from Western Europe to Turkey. The BGN equivalent of the currency is BGN 52,590. An act has been drawn up under the Currency Law.