site.btaInterior Ministry Has Information that Evelin "Brendo" Banev Entered Bulgaria by Plane in 2022

The Interior Ministry has information according to which Evelin "Brendo" Banev had entered the territory of Bulgaria in the period from late March 2022 to early June 2022, caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said at a hearing in Parliament on Friday.

Stoyanov explained that the Ministry’s information is related to the circumstances surrounding a plane, which passed through several European countries, landed temporarily at an airport near Vidin (Northwest Bulgaria), refueled and then landed in the Targovishte area (Northeast Bulgaria).

This happened at the time when Boyko Rashkov was Interior Minister, Stoyanov, who was Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDCOC) back then, pointed out.

"The two persons who were near that aircraft have been identified. Enough evidence has been gathered on them, charges have been filed and our information is that they are seeking out a plea bargain option. In parallel, GDCOC has launched an investigation into a criminal group that engages in such illegal overflights, primarily for smuggling purposes. And those two persons are part of that group," Stoyanov explained, adding that the two have been detained a month ago.

Evelin "Brendo" Banev, known as Bulgaria's cocaine king, who has been wanted under Interpol Red Notices since 2018 for participating in an organized crime group for money laundering in Bulgaria and for setting up an organized criminal group and drug trafficking in Romania, surrendered to the Bulgarian authorities on June 24 and is currently held at Sofia's Central Prison. According to his lawyer, he wishes to serve a cumulation of his three custodial sentences in Bulgaria.