Customs officers from the Anti-Drug Trafficking Unit of the Ruse Territorial Customs Directorate have seized two types of narcotics — 19kg of cocaine and 329kg of cannabis, weighing 348kg in total — during an inspection of a lorry near the Vidin border crossing.
The packages of marijuana were part of the cargo, while the cocaine was hidden in a compartment in the floor of the trailer.
Details of the case were announced at a briefing at the Vidin Customs Office today, 12 October 2026, by Vladislav Vlashev, Deputy District Prosecutor at the Vidin District Prosecutor’s Office; Ivo Poakov, head of the Drug Trafficking Unit at the territorial directorate; and Volodya Bogdanov, director of the Ruse Territorial Customs Directorate.
Late in the evening on 8 October 2026, customs officers stopped a Bulgarian-registered lorry entering the country for a roadside check near the Danube Bridge 2 Vidin–Calafat border crossing. According to its transport documents, the vehicle was carrying groupage cargo from Spain for various recipients in Bulgaria and Greece.
The lorry was diverted to the Vidin Customs Office for a thorough customs inspection. During the examination, officers discovered a specially constructed concealment in the middle section of the trailer, consisting of a false floor running its entire length. Inside, they found 16 packages containing a total of 19.324kg of white powder, which tested positive for cocaine in a field drug test.
Customs dog Hera also took part in the detailed inspection of the cargo and indicated part of a consignment whose transport documents listed a recipient in Greece. After unwrapping the pallets, customs officers found that the upper rows contained boxes of peanut packets, while the boxes in the two bottom rows were filled with vacuum-sealed packages of dry green plant material — cannabis. A total of 190 packages weighing 329kg were found.
A pre-trial investigation has been opened by a customs investigator under the supervision of the Vidin District Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation, conducted under the direction and supervision of the Vidin District Prosecutor’s Office, concerns the cross-border transport of high-risk narcotic substances without the required authorisation - an offence under Article 242, paragraph 2, clause 1 of the Penal Code.
Volodya Bogdanov, director of the Ruse Territorial Customs Directorate, said such inspections were part of the compensatory measures implemented by the Customs Agency following Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area.
Ivo Poakov added that the cannabis seizure was the largest of its kind in the area of the Vidin border crossing. Earlier this year, more than 500kg of cannabis was seized in cooperation with the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime near the Danube Bridge crossing at Ruse.
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