Bulgaria seizes 5.5 tonnes of heroin precursor

SOFIA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian customs at the Danube Bridge checkpoint at the border with Romania have seized 5,505 liters of acetic anhydride, a critical heroin precursor, officials said here on Monday.

The chemical was found on Friday in a Bosnia-registered truck, which was declared to be carrying 20 tonnes of polyethylene to Turkey, the National Customs Agency (NCA) said in a statement.

The acetic anhydride was filled in five plastic containers with a capacity of 1,000 liters each and 22 plastic tubes with a capacity of 30 liters, the statement from the customs inspectors said.

According to the NCA, the amount would be enough to produce two tons of heroin.

The rest of the cargo in the truck included 22 wooden crates with undeclared auto parts, electronics, medical diagnostic equipment, and 100 kg of mobile phones, as well as two pistols and two revolvers, the statement said.

The driver of the vehicle, a 60-year-old Bosnian citizen, was arrested at the scene, the statement added.

This has been the largest amount of acetic anhydride found and seized at the Bulgarian border in 2017 so far, the NCA said.

In August and April, the agency seized two other large batches of acetic anhydride amounting to 5,000 liters and 3,720 liters respectively. Enditem