site.bta187 Arrested in Bulgaria in Major Operation against Organized Crime in EU

187 Arrested in Bulgaria in Major Operation against Organized Crime in EU


Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - The Interior Ministry said that 187
persons were arrested in Bulgaria during the biggest ever
cooperated international law enforcement operation targeting
serious and organized crime in the EU.

The operation codenamed Archimedes was conducted by the law
enforcement authorities of 34 countries on September 15-23. It
was coordinated and supported by Europol with the cooperation of
Eurojust, Frontex and Interpol. All 28 EU Member States
participated, as well as Australia, Colombia, Norway, Serbia,
Switzerland and the United States.

The results of the operation include: 1,027 individuals
arrested, 599 kg of cocaine and 200 kg of heroin seized, 1.3
tonnes of cannabis seized, and 30 children saved from
trafficking. Also, around 10,000 irregular migrants were
checked, which led to the arrest of 170 facilitators of illegal
immigration, and key intelligence information was gathered, the
Interior Ministry said.

Raids and other interventions took place in hundreds of
locations including airports, border-crossing points, ports and
specific crime hot spots in towns and cities. All of them had
featured variously in Europol's Serious and Organised Crime
Threat Assessment (SOCTA), criminal intelligence reports from EU
Member States and third countries, and analytical products
drawn from Europol's criminal databases.

Operation Archimedes involved 2,248 staff members of the State
Agency for National Security, the Interior Ministry and the
Customs Agency. They targeted cocaine and heroin trafficking,
human trafficking and cybercrime (transnational child sex
offenders and payment fraud). A total of 187 persons were
arrested and 127 criminal proceedings were instituted.

Bulgaria helped the other EU Member States in all other priority
crime areas, above all illegal immigration, synthetic drugs,
firearms trafficking, and excise and carousel fraud, said the
Interior Ministry.