Two men aged 24 and 28 were trying to bring 140 cartons of cigarettes from Bulgaria to Belgium in a car. The smuggling was discovered on the Innkreis motorway (A8) in Suben (Schwärding district). As the Ministry of Finance now reports, the car was stopped during a customs inspection at the beginning of May.
The driver and his passenger had stated that there were eight cartons of cigarettes in their car. When the customs officers found cigarettes hidden in the trunk next to the spare tire, they became suspicious.
The occupants, however, stuck to their version – which turned out to be a lie following an intensive vehicle inspection: In total, the officers found 28,000 cigarettes in the car, which corresponds to 140 cartons. In order to avoid being discovered, the young Bulgarians had deposited the contraband in various places – including in the engine compartment, the air filter, the tailgate, the spare wheel and the rear bumper. The cigarettes were subsequently confiscated.
“Criminal proceedings have been initiated,” the Ministry of Finance announced. The cigarettes will be destroyed once the penalty notice becomes final.
