Bulgarian authorities have seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing with Turkey, in what officials described as the largest land-border drug bust in the country’s history.
The cocaine was found packed in five passenger suitcases inside a vehicle that had entered Bulgaria from Serbia, officials said on Saturday. Three individuals have been detained for up to 72 hours and charged, while investigators are working to identify additional suspects, including both Bulgarian and foreign nationals allegedly involved in the smuggling operation.
“The cocaine was not intended for the Bulgarian market, but only for transit through our country,” officials said. The drug originated in Latin America and was shipped to Europe through ports in Spain and the Netherlands before being routed toward Turkey and the Middle East.
The bust was carried out jointly by the Interior Ministry, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), the Customs Agency, and the Prosecutor’s Office. A sniffer dog helped detect the drugs, which were not hidden in a secret compartment, authorities said.
“This is the largest quantity ever seized by the Customs Agency at a land border. It shows that Bulgaria is successfully protecting the external borders of the European Union,” Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said in a statement.