Confusion Surrounds Alleged 'Record' Contraband in Bulgaria

Crime | June 7, 2010, Monday // 16:00|  views

Mystery surrounds the “Captain Kovalenko” ship, allegedly, busted with a huge load of contraband cigarettes in Bulgaria's Varna. Photo by www.mitnici.eu

The ship which was, allegedly, transporting 35 million contraband cigarettes, busted by the Customs in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna, had actually sustained damage and is being repaired at the Varna Port.

On Sunday, Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, announced the seizing of the record-large contraband cigarettes, informing it was one of the most successful operations ever of the Bulgarian Customs Agency, conducted jointly with the EU anti-fraud office OLAF. The cigarettes are the Chinese Jin Ling brand, a generic version of the American “Camel.”

Surprisingly enough, in the wake of the Minister's words of praise, the Bulgarian daily “Trud” (Labor) published Monday an article, citing the Director of Border Police in Varna, Dimitar Vassilev, saying he did not know anything about contraband, and a ship with contraband cigarettes being at either of the 2 Varna ports, adding he was stunned by Djankov's words.

The check was done on May 22, during the regatta “Tall Ships 2010,” when four containers with 49 tons of cigarettes have been unloaded from the broken-down ship “Captain Kovalenko.” The cargo had been shipped by a company in Moldova with a final destination Egypt. The ship sustained engine failure near Bulgarian territorial waters, forcing it to enter the Varna-East port.

“We did not find any discrepancies between the content of the containers and the accompanying documentation. We simply unloaded the cigarettes because they were destined for a third country,” Vassilev is quoted saying.

Meanwhile, the Director of “Port Varna,” Danail Papazov, informed the ship is being repaired in Varna while the cigarettes are stored an an excise warehouse, adding they will be loaded on “Captain Kovalenko” when the work is over and the ship will sail on its way.

The Head of the Varna Customs Intelligence Department, Svetlan Savov, however, insists the ship had been followed ever since it left the Moldova port over suspicions of contraband. The former Soviet ship had equipment of unloading freight in open sea, and a detailed map of the Bulgarian coast line, according to Savov, who pointed out that if these cigarettes entered the country's market, “the hit on the budget would be similar to the one from a small meteorite.”

The Customs Agency informs on their internet site that the cigarettes were intended to be illegally distributed in Bulgaria. The Agency had inquired with the owner of the brand, a company registered in Spain, which had confirmed in writing the cigarettes have been manufactured without their permission.

Savov further says the ship and the crew had already left the country while the captain is still in Bulgaria for questioning.

The amount, which was, reportedly seized as contraband, is the largest in the last years.

When asked to clarify what exactly is going on, Djankov told the TV channel bTV, that a probe will be done Monday or Tuesday.

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Tags: cigarette contraband, Simeon Djankov, Varna port, Captain Kovalenko

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