Nearly 500 kg of Marijuana Discovered in a Truck Carrying sausages and Peppers at Kulata Border Crossing

Around 500kg of cannabis have been seized during an inspection of a lorry at the Kulata border crossing. In the morning of 10 November, as the vehicle entered Bulgaria from Greece, officers from the Sofia Customs Regional Directorate’s Drug Trafficking Unit selected a lorry combination, consisting of a tractor unit and a refrigerated semi-trailer bearing Bulgarian registration plates, for inspection.

The lorry driver presented documents for the goods being transported – sausages and peppers destined for recipients in Bulgaria. According to the transport documents, the cargo had been loaded in Spain. The lorry combination was selected for an X-ray scan. Analysis of the resulting image revealed a suspicious area at the front of the refrigerated semi-trailer, which was flagged for a physical inspection.

A thorough customs inspection was then carried out. After the goods listed in the transport documents had been unloaded, customs officers discovered a partition wall designed to divide the refrigerated trailer into sections operating at two different temperature settings. During the inspection, they found 22 boxes covered in transparent adhesive tape in the second section. Inside were vacuum-sealed bags containing a dry green plant substance.

A field drug test returned a positive result for cannabis (marijuana). A total of 445 vacuum-sealed packages containing a high-risk narcotic substance were discovered, with a gross weight of 497.90kg.

The lorry driver has been detained for up to 72 hours. A request for his remand in custody is due to be submitted to the court.