CUSTOMS TARGET BULGARIA TO STEM HEROIN FLOW

Customs officers in the UK are stepping up their fight against heroin
smuggling after seizures of the drug trebled last year.

Almost two tonnes of heroin were impounded in Britain, according to figures
obtained by the BBC.

The increase is the biggest on record but officials fear it means
comparatively more is slipping though the net and on to the streets.

They say much of the illegal trade is controlled by Turkish criminals who
have been able to exploit a relaxation of border controls in eastern
European countries since the collapse of communism in the late 1980s.

An initiative by the World Customs Union will soon be launched to reinforce
existing western support for the fight against heroin.

Customs officials have pinpointed the Bulgarian-Turkish border as a serious
weak-link in their attempts to stem the transit of illegal drugs along the
traditional route from Asia to the West.

Bulgaria has become a major thoroughfare for smuggling rings, illustrated
by the number of drug traffickers in the country's prisons.

At one jail in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, 90% of the inmates have been
convicted of drugs offences.

Bulgarian border control officers have already benefited from training by
their UK counterparts, says Boyko Ivanov, director of the country's
customs.

"Our effectiveness is improving thanks to special training provided by
British customs.

"Europe and the US have donated new technology to help detect suspect vehicles."

The results are apparent in Svilengrad, the main customs post on the border
with Turkey, which 700 lorries pass through every day and where, last year,
400kg of drugs - mainly heroin - were seized.

But most of the hauls are a result of tip-offs and all sides know huge
quantities are still going undetected.

British customs officers hope the recent increase in seizures in the UK
points to improvements in detection methods.

Two weeks ago they discovered a shipment of 100kg of Turkish heroin, worth
#8 million, which had passed through eastern Europe in the false
compartment of a long-distance lorry.

Mike Newsom, head of drugs operations in the UK, said the Turkish smuggling
gangs were "particularly well organised".

"They are ruthless in the way they go about marketing and they have
actually, I believe, tried to create an attitude whereby heroin is
considered to be a recreational drug," said Mr Newsom.