Sofia - Bulgarian police in Plovdiv had to dig into plastic barrels of pickled cabbage to find 50 kilos of heroin hidden at the bottom of the containers, reports said Thursday.

Eight people were arrested in connection with the 110 packets of heroin hidden in the barrels of cabbage, traditionally prepared and sold in the autumn throughout the Balkans, the BTA news agency said.

As the south-eastern tip Europe on the border with Turkey and Asia, Bulgaria is the gateway for underground groups smuggling narcotics and chemicals in both directions.

The group arrested in Plovdiv, in central Bulgaria 150 kilometres east of Sofia, was mainly distributing heroin within the country, the report said. (dpa)