Bulgarian police seize 80.5kg of heroin

SOFIA - Bulgarian customs office said yesterday it had seized 80.5kg of heroin, hidden in a truck bound for Belgium and detained the two Bulgarian drivers.

Customs officers at the border checkpoint with Serbia found the 158 packages of drugs, worth more than 14.5 million levs ($14.73 million), concealed in the truck's spare tyre.

"Customs officers found the packages wrapped ... in a way commonly used by drug trafficking gangs to escape x-ray detection devices," the customs office said in a statement.

Bulgaria has tightened border controls and has vowed to fight organised crime and corruption to ensure it will join the European Union in 2007 as planned.

Bulgaria, which lies on the so-called "Balkan route" for trafficking drugs from Asia to western Europe, said it has seized more than 200kg of heroin at the border checkpoint with Serbia since the beginning of this year.

- REUTERS