Bulgaria's customs officers at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint at the border with Turkey seized 8.310 kilograms of heroin late Monday night, the Regional Customs Directorate in Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, said on Tuesday in a press release.
The drugs were discovered during the inspection of a truck with Turkish license plates headed for the United Kingdom, which crossed the border into Bulgaria late Monday night, Xinhua reported.
The Turkish driver was accompanied by a woman with Bulgarian citizenship who was hiding the heroin in her bag.
The woman, 32, headed for the restroom with her rather sizable purse as soon as the customs inspection began, but was detained by the officers.
A statement of customs violation was drawn and the case was handed over to competent authorities.
Bulgaria straddles routes of international drug smugglers and routinely seizes large amounts of heroin on its borders with Turkey to the south, Romania to the north and Serbia to the east. However, it rarely seizes drugs on its Black Sea borders.
Over the last eight years, Bulgaria's Customs Agency has confiscated over 20 tons of drugs, but it is certain that much more has slipped through.
Apart from the West-bound heroin, chemicals, amphetamines and other substances are also smuggled across the Balkan country.