Plovdiv police seize 7,400 illegal e‑cigarettes and bust tobacco workshop

Over two consecutive days police units of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior carried out specialised operations in the Plovdiv region targeting illegal tobacco and e‑cigarette smuggling. The first raid, late on Friday in the Pŭrvomay district, stopped a micro‑bus transporting 37 boxes with a total of 7,400 electronic cigarettes that lacked the required tax banderoles. The driver, a 68‑year‑old man from Sofia with prior convictions, was arrested together with two foreign nationals who escorted the vehicle; one of them tested positive for cocaine.

The second operation, on Sunday in the village of Zlatevrŭh (Aсеновград municipality), uncovered an illegal home workshop for tobacco processing. Authorities seized a cutting machine, a scale, about 50 kg of raw tobacco, more than 5 kg of processed product and 100 L of a strong‑smelling liquid for analysis. The workshop’s owner, a 61‑year‑old repeat offender, was detained.

In a related afternoon raid, officers from the Third Police Department in Plovdiv caught five additional suspects – three women and two men – with contraband tobacco and 400 factory‑produced cigarettes lacking tax stamps, seizing the goods from a hidden stash on a local address and from other points along Bulgaria Boulevard. All detained individuals face rapid criminal proceedings for illegal handling of excisable goods.