Customs

Bulgarian customs are to become fully electronic by 2020 and customs officials are to become a digital administration.

This is envisaged in the strategy E-Customs 2016-2020, proposed by Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov. The document contains a road map of stages and deadlines.

Customs officers at Athens International Airport on Tuesday confiscated 306 kilograms of cannabis found in an airport warehouse with the help of drug-sniffing dogs.

Authorities said the cannabis was wrapped in aluminum foil and plastic film, and packed into 24 cardboard boxes.

The Bulgarian customs have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 16.2 tonnes of cut tobacco for smoking across the country's border with Greece and save BGN 2.5 M (EUR 1.27 M) in excise duty.

The tobacco had been discovered by customs officers in a Bulgarian-registered truck at Kulata crossing on the border with Greece, the National Customs Agency said in a statement on Monday.

The Bulgarian customs agency collected a total of BGN 8.1 B in revenues in 2015, which was the largest amount collected in the past seven years.

This is revealed by the annual report of the agency published on Tuesday.

Among the main challenges of the customs agency in 2015 were the falling prices of oil on world markets, the migrant influx and the contraband of cigarettes.

A move by the Bulgarian government to close down the customs office of Svilengrad, at the border with Turkey, has sparked outrage from officers and municipal councilors in the town.

Bulgarian customs authorities have prevented the smuggling of thousands of ancient coins and archaeological artifacts from Bulgaria into England, the National Customs Agency in Sofia said on Monday.

Customs officers at Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Burgas have seized 42.4 kilogrammes of heroin being smuggled in the wheels of a German-registered truck, the Bulgarian Customs Agency said on Monday.

Bulgarian authorities have temporarily blocked the sale of a total of 660 tonnes of fuel by placing seals at filling stations amid ongoing inspections.

The checks are conducted by the prosecuting authority, the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security, the Customs Agency, and the National Revenue Agency, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

A sniffer dog serving with Bulgaria's Customs Agency has discovered over 20.4 kilogrammes of heroin in a car crossing from Turkey at Lesovo checkpoint, the agency announced on Tuesday.

"Inspector" Chara, a golden retriever trained to discover narcotic substances, found the heroin hidden in a secret compartment beneath the driver's seat of a Bulgaria-registered car.

A work of art by Pablo Picasso worth 25 million euros and considered a cultural treasure by Spanish authorities who had barred its exportation was seized from a boat docked at Corsica, French authorities said Aug. 4.