Lesovo. Large amount of smuggled shipment of 488 artefacts - ancient coins, ornaments and edges of ancient weapons were seized at the Lesovo customs checkpoint on Sunday, the press office of the National Customs Agency (NCA) announced for FOCUS News Agency.
The unique treasure, acquired by treasure-hunters, was seized from a jeep car with Bulgarian registration entering the territory of the country from Turkey. The vehicle was driven by a 43-year-old Bulgarian national from the district of Yambol.
Customs officers selected the car for a thorough check despite the very self-confident behaviour of the driver and his companion, who said they did not transport anything that needed to be declared before the customs.
An x-ray examination, however, detected two plastic bags inside the right front seat of the car. The bags were full of ancient coins with patina. The personal check on the driver discovered two other plastic bags with ancient findings.
Authorities confiscated a total of 460 ancient coins, 16 edges of ancient weapons and 12 ornaments at the total weight of 1,745 grams.
The treasure will be analysed by experts. According to initial data the coins are Roman and Byzantine with the images of different emperors and authentic artefacts collected by treasure-hunters.
The treasure was supposed to be transported to West Europe through Bulgaria.