Customs officials 'nicked US Ambassador's phone'

Customs officials 'nicked US Ambassador's phone': "John Beyrle was flying from Varna to Hungary on Friday and left his mobileat the security check. Since he was important, Bulgarian authorities asked customs staff if they had seen the phone and none of them owned up.

Unfortunately the ambassador's phone had been kitted out with a global positioning system and it led the authorities to the two customs officials. They had thrown away the SIM card.

According to the Trud (Truth) newspaper the two said they wouldn't have nicked the phone if they had known it belonged to an Ambassador.

Bureaucrats stealing from other foreigners with natty gadgets is considered fair game in Bulgaria. A large amount of foreign post is confiscated by either the Post Office or customs officials as one of the perks of the job. When it happens to an ambassador something gets done of course."