site.btaFive Border Police Officers from Elhovo Charged with Receiving Bribes from Human Traffickers

Five Border Police Officers from Elhovo Charged with Receiving Bribes from Human Traffickers

Haskovo, Southern Bulgaria, February 9 (BTA) - The Specialized Prosecuting Magistracy has pressed charges to five police officers from the Elhovo border checkpoint, part of the Svilengard Border Police Unit, for receiving bribes from human traffickers who smuggle foreign nationals from Turkey to Western Europe, the prosecuting magistracy said on Tuesday. Three of the five are at senior positions at the border checkpoint.

The five were detained on Monday in a special operation of the Interior Ministry.

The evidence collected so far shows that the group was active since at least July 2015. It worked with different human traffickers and received bribes for not only letting through certain groups of migrants but also for stopping or detaining trespassers led by rival smugglers. An investigation is underway which will seek to establish how many groups were let through the border in this way, what money was received and among whom it was divided.