Prosecutors in Haskovo have charged a 41-year-old Turkish man over €162,700 he failed to declare at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing. The prosecutor's office said the banknotes were hidden in the cab of a truck.
The Turkish-registered truck reached the exit point from Bulgaria on 13 October at about 8:30pm. The Customs Agency said it was travelling from the Netherlands through Bulgaria to Georgia. The driver showed papers for a load of fruit.
After a risk analysis, customs officers picked the truck for a close check and ran it through an X-ray scanner. The scan showed areas of suspicious density in the driver's cab. The euro notes were packed in plastic bags and hidden in factory-made cavities under the fridge and under the bed.
Prosecutors say the man did not declare the money to customs in writing, and that the sum is especially large.
Between 20 and 23 September, the Customs Agency also reported other undeclared sums found when it checked vehicles leaving through the same crossing: €81,385 and US$19,750.