23 arrests in crackdown on Bulgarian border corruption

Sofia: Twenty-three customs officers and businessmen have been arrested in a probe into corruption at a major checkpoint on Bulgaria`s border with Greece, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The investigation focusses on alleged kickbacks by Bulgarian transport firms to let trucks pass through the Kulata border point without a check.

Police carried out 83 raids on the homes of customs offices and transport firms in Kulata and Sofia, and seized 63,000 leva ($36,000, 32,000 euros) in cash, the spokeswoman of the public prosecutor`s office, Rumiana Arnaoudova, said.

The operation, launched on Tuesday, led to a six-kilometre (three-mile) tailback of trucks and buses.

The Bulgarian authorities have been embroiled in a years-long effort to stamp out graft, smuggling, tax fraud and human trafficking at the country`s border posts.