SOFIA, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian customs inspectors have seized more than 2.5 kg of smuggled gold products and jewelry at the country's Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the border with Turkey, officials said Thursday.
The precious contraband items were found in a car that entered Bulgaria 20 minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve, the National Customs Agency said in a statement.
The driver of the vehicle, a German citizen traveling alone, stated that he had nothing to declare. However, based on risk analysis and professional judgment, the customs officers carried out a thorough inspection and found 2.563 kg of gold products and jewelry hidden in the pockets of the driver's clothes and in several bags, the statement said.
According to experts' examination, the gold was of high quality and its total value amounted to more than 103,000 U.S. dollars, the statement said.
In 2017, Bulgarian customs inspectors seized a total of 78.5 kg of precious metals, of which 31.4 kg of gold and 47.1 kg of silver products.
