SOFIA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian customs officers have seized 35.877 kg of heroin at the Danube Bridge checkpoint near Ruse at the border with Romania, authorities said Thursday.
The illicit drug, split into 71 packets, was discovered on Wednesday in the cavities under the front seats of a Bulgarian car when it attempted to leave Bulgaria, the country's Prosecutor's Office and National Customs Agency said in a joint statement.
The cavities were covered with specially made lead lids with locking mechanisms, the statement said.
Authorities estimated the value of the heroin on the black market would exceed 800,000 U.S. dollars.
The driver of the vehicle, a 35-year-old Bulgarian citizen, was arrested at the scene.
So far, he has been convicted three times for other crimes, the statement added.
Bulgaria, a key transit route for drugs smuggled from Asia to Europe, seized nearly 987 kg of heroin in 2018, official data showed.
