Bulgaria seizes 95 kg of heroin headed for Germany

SOFIA, March 5 (Reuters) - Bulgarian customs officers seized over 95 kg of heroin found in a truck travelling from Turkey to Germany through Bulgaria, officials today said.

Customs agents at the Balkan state's border with Serbia found the drugs in the truck's cabin. They said it was worth more than 17 million levs.

''A total of 185 packages were seized. The heroin is of extremely good quality,'' the customs office said in a statement.

Located just north of Turkey on the Black Sea, Bulgaria has long served as a gateway for smugglers trafficking goods from Asia to western Europe.

The country of 7.8 million hopes to join the European Union in January, but Brussels has warned it must tighten border controls, crack down on organised crime and reform its judiciary or it will delay accession until 2008.

REUTERS SY RK1830