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Large Amount of Weapons
Seized during Raid
in Sofia, Gabarevo


Sofia, December 5 (BTA) - A large amount of weapons was seized during a police raid on Wednesday in Sofia and the village of Gabarevo, located near the south-central town of Pavel Banya.

During the search, which started several days ago, the police found Kalashnikov automatic assault rifles and other guns and munitions. Most of the confiscated items were packed in bags and boxes, and part of the weapons were new.

Part of the arsenal was stored in a garage in Sofia's Geo Milev borough.

The weapons were presented at the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime in the presence of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov and Interior Minister Mladen Marinov.

Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev said this raid shows that even if Bulgaria has some problems with combatting organized crime, they are no different than in other countries.

Geshev noted that silencers like the ones confiscated are used only by Bulgarian special forces. He also said that the police found eight kilograms of gunpowder in the garage in Geo Milev, which, if blown up, would completely destroy the building.

The investigators are certain some of the arsenal, including the silencers, was manufactured in a factory in Kazanluk (Central Bulgaria).

Forged Canadian, European, Israeli and Iranian passports were confiscated by the police. Two Iranian citizens were detained.

At the beginning of Wednesday's Council of Ministers meeting, Prime Minister Borissov commented that the amount of weapons confiscated exceeds that available to the special brigades. He noted that the arsenal was of high quality, including guns, grenade launchers and over 40,000 bullets.

Borissov said that "part of the weapons in the cache have been paid for because they were in a controlled shipment, and at least these we could give to the special forces".

He noted that the police have already detained a suspect on the case. RY/TH