Customs officers found 1,052,600 undeclared Turkish lira, worth €18,883, in a car entering Bulgaria from Turkey at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing, the press office of the Customs Agency in Svilengrad said.

The car, which had Turkish plates, reached the crossing at about 12:30pm on 19 October. The driver, a Bulgarian citizen, was travelling alone. He told officers he had nothing to declare.

A risk analysis flagged the car for a full search. On the seat next to the driver, officers found two black plastic bags of 200 and 100 lira notes. The driver was fined under the Currency Act.

A few days earlier, customs officers at the same crossing stopped an attempt to smuggle €162,700 in undeclared cash in a lorry travelling from the Netherlands through Bulgaria to Georgia. The banknotes were hidden in factory-made cavities under the fridge and the bed in the driver's cab.

A 41-year-old Turkish citizen has been charged with carrying undeclared currency across the border.