site.btaMigrant Trafficking Group Busted, Ten Persons Arrested

Ten people have been detained during a specialized police operation for neutralizing an organized crime group trafficking in migrants, the head of Border Police, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, told reporters on Thursday. Ten persons have been arrested and one, placed under house arrest in Montana (Northwestern Bulgaria), all of them Bulgarian nationals.

Charges have already been brought against six of them, who have been detained for 72 hours, and two others will be charged as well. The remaining two persons will perhaps become witnesses after their 24 hours under arrest expire, Zlatanov explained.

The detained were arrested at ten different locations in Sofia on Thursday morning. One person is on the wanted list after not being found on their address. The operation continues with searches and questioning of witnesses, he specified.

The group had two leaders who through threats and coercion forced people with financial problems to transport migrants, Zlatanov said. The leaders do not have criminal records, and neither do half of the detainees. In Zlatanov's words, this is a very large-scale crime group with clear and distinctive levels, leaders, assistants and executors. The migrants were transported from Turkiye to Western Europe through Serbia.

"We had exceptionally good joint work under the supervision of the Sofia City Prosecution Office during the entire period. We have been observing the group for several months," he specified, adding that such a large-scale organized crime group has not been formed for years.