National Customs Agency

Customs officers found a record amount of 170 kilograms of cocaine. Details of the investigation were provided to the media today in Burgas by Petya Bankova – Director General of the National Customs Agency, Stefan Bakalov – Head of the "Combating Drug Trafficking" Department at the National Customs Agency, the district prosecutor of Burgas Georgi Chinev, the supervising prosecutor Elka Dobrikova and senior commissioner Lachezar Momchev - director of the Regional Directorate of the Burgas Border Police.

This is the largest amount of cocaine seized at the Burgas port complex, said Petya Bankova, Director General of the National Customs Agency and emphasized that the Agency has zero tolerance for this type of crime. Bankova congratulated the teams of customs officers who participated in the discovery of the drug, and thanked the authorities of the prosecution and the Ministry of the Interior.

District Prosecutor's Office-Burgas led the pre-trial investigation for possession with intent to distribute 170 kilograms of cocaine. The narcotic substances were found during an inspection carried out by customs officers on a container transported by ship to one of Burgas ports, the briefing was informed. The narcotic substance was placed in a container that was checked by customs officers using the "risk analysis" method. The cocaine was distributed in a total of 150 packages. At open market prices, the total value of the seized cocaine amounts to 6.8 million US dollars. The cargo arrived on a ship carrying containers of bananas. It was initially loaded in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, and its route passed through Panama, Malta, Italy and Bulgaria. At the moment, no persons have been detained in the pre-trial proceeding.

Those present at the briefing announced zero tolerance for this type of crime and praised the excellent cooperation between the Burgas District Prosecutor's Office, the National Customs Agency the Border Police, which led to the seizure of the record amount of cocaine.