20 Customs Officers Arrested at Malko Tarnovo Border Checkpoint

20 customs officers have been arrested at Malko Tarnovo border checkpoint, spokesperson of the Prosecutor General Rumyana Arnaudova said at an extraordinary briefing in Bourgas on 20^th of October. Charges have been pressed against 5 of them, including the head of Malko Tarnovo customs checkpoint and two chiefs of shifts.

Customs officers have been kept under survailance with special intelligence devices since May this year. According to the Prosecutor's Office, they have allegedly formed an organized criminal group for taking bribes from drivers passing through the border checkpoint. The investigation is yet to identify the exact origin of the 10,000 BGN found in the customs officers.

Arnaudova explained that 4 of them were released on bail to the amount of 2,000 BGN each. The head of the custom checkpoint was released on bail to the amount of 3,000 BGN.