The prosecutor’s office in Bulgaria said today, Tuesday, that authorities have confiscated 401 kilograms of heroin hidden in containers on board a ship that arrived at Varna Port on the Black Sea from Dubai.
The prosecutors said in a statement that customs officials found the shipment of heroin distributed among about 500 packages that were hidden in reels of bitumen used to insulate roofs and floors manufactured in Iran, and they added that the shipment arrived on February 7.
Prosecutors said that the owner of the importing company and a customs official have been arrested and charged with drug smuggling.
The authorities estimated the value of the shipment at about 36 million Bulgarian Lev (22 million dollars), which could double or triple it when sold.
Bulgaria is located on the so-called Balkan drug trafficking route, which is used as a smuggling conduit from Asia and the Middle East to the West.