Customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing seized 81,385 euros and $19,750 in undeclared cash over four days, from 20 to 23 September, the Customs Agency press office in Svilengrad said. The money was hidden in vehicles leaving Bulgaria, and on 20 September alone officers caught six travellers trying to smuggle it out without declaring it.
One case involved a bus with Turkish plates travelling from Romania to Turkey with 13 people on board. A search of one passenger, a Romanian national, turned up $13,000 in total — $3,000 in his shoes and another $10,000 in his handbag.
A few hours earlier, officers searched the luggage of three Romanian women on another bus. They found 29,635 euros and $6,750 between them. None of the women had declared the money.
During a check on a car heading to Turkey, a Serbian national failed to declare 12,950 euros, which was found in his trouser pocket and in a handbag.
In another case, a truck driver, a German national, had hidden 16,800 euros in various spots inside a suitcase with his personal belongings.
Customs officers also caught an Iranian national travelling alone from Austria through Bulgaria and Turkey to Iran. A thorough search of his luggage turned up 22,000 euros he had not declared.
All the offenders were fined under the Currency Law.
At the end of July this year, customs officers at the same border crossing had caught 40,000 euros and 100,000 Turkish lira undeclared in a car that was also leaving the country.
The Customs Agency points out that travellers crossing the European Union's external border must declare any cash they carry once it reaches or exceeds the equivalent of 10,000 euros. Declaring the money costs nothing — no tax, no fee.