Bulgarian Interior Ministry Reports Successful Operation Against Cigarette Smugglers

The Interior Ministry reported a successful operation against cigarette smuggling in which it did not participate but provided information about the criminal group to partner institutions.

16 people were arrested in the operation including 3 Bulgarians. According to the Secretary General of the Interior Ministry Georgi Kostov, “a conspiratory and highly-organised criminal group has been neutralised.”

The group was involved in the illegal manufacturing and distribution of tobacco products on the territory of various European countries.

The operation took place last week in four member-states of the EU – Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Belgium. The police broke into two factories in Budapest and Vienna, and confiscated 17 tonnes of cut tobacco, more than 500 million cigarettes and equipment used for the illegal activity.

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