Bulgaria's interior ministry says customs officers stopped nearly 80,000 cigarettes without excise stamps at border crossings with Turkey this month. At Kapitan Andreevo, they also seized 221.73 kg of marijuana.

State agencies also held more than 12,000 perfumes, and textile and leather goods of protected brands. They also found more than 600 kg of animal fat with no certificate of fitness.

The undeclared excise and branded goods were cigarettes, food, jewellery, perfume, clothes and shoes. Some were hidden in purpose-built compartments on buses. Customs officers drew up 13 reports of administrative offences and collected a further 3,300 euros in public claims owed to the state.

Between 22 and 26 October, officers at Kapitan Andreevo stopped 11 attempts to move goods illegally. The vehicles had Bulgarian and foreign plates. Checks found 32,860 cigarettes without excise stamps, 2,800 perfumes, 727 textile items, 110 accessories (shoes and bags), nearly 500 g of silver items and 2,600 packs of sexual stimulants. The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency also refused entry to another 300 kg of sheep tallow that had no papers showing where it came from.

Customs officers found the marijuana a few days ago, when they checked a lorry leaving Bulgaria for Turkey. In a physical inspection, they found bags among the declared goods. The bags held clear plastic packets of dry, green, grass-like material. A field test confirmed it was marijuana.

There are 196 packets, worth 1,813,899 euros at prices used by the courts.

The checks began after tips from the Interagency Coordination Centre for Countering Smuggling and Monitoring the Movement of High-Risk Goods and Cargo, which is attached to the organised crime directorate (GDBOP). Seven state bodies work at the centre. They watch high-risk vehicles and goods around the clock.