Sniffer Dog Pirin Helps Border Police Seize Nearly 46kg of Cannabis at Kapitan Andreevo

Trained sniffer dogs remain invaluable assistants to border police and customs officers at the busy Kapitan Andreevo Border Crossing. Just days ago, the service dog Pirin helped uncover nearly 46kg of cannabis hidden inside a passenger car travelling from Serbia to Turkey.

Traffic at the checkpoint is already heavy in the early hours, and it was here that the latest drug seizure was made during a joint inspection by customs officers and the Bulgarian Border Police following a risk analysis.

Krasimir Chapkanov, head of the checkpoint, explained:

“On 4 March at around 16:30, a passenger car with foreign registration arrived at the outbound lane. The driver was also a foreign citizen with dual Albanian and Serbian citizenship.”

During the inspection, officers discovered specially modified hiding places inside the vehicle.

“In the vehicle’s cavities – in the floor and the wheel arches – factory spaces had been modified into compartments. There we found 107 packages of green plant material. A field drug test confirmed it was marijuana, with a total weight of 45kg and 760g.”

The estimated value of the seized drugs exceeds €330,000, and the operation was carried out following prior intelligence.

According to border officials, Pirin played a key role in locating the drugs.

Yani Peychev, head of the checkpoint, said:

“At Kapitan Andreevo we have four service dogs – three trained to detect explosives, while Pirin specialises in detecting narcotics.”

Handlers say the dog helps pinpoint the exact location of hidden drugs, signalling when narcotics are present and guiding officers to the likely hiding place in the vehicle.

Customs officers note that marijuana is the drug most often trafficked towards Turkey, where its street price is significantly higher than in Europe. Over the past year alone, more than 1,100kg of marijuana has been seized along this route.

Meanwhile, traffic remains intense at the checkpoint. A queue of lorries stretching at least 10 kilometres formed this morning before the border crossing. Drivers are urged to be cautious, as trucks have occupied both the emergency lane and parts of the main carriageway in places.

Around 3,000 lorries were processed in both directions over the past 24 hours, which officials say is the maximum capacity of the crossing, the largest land border checkpoint in the region.