site.bta15 Nabbed, Charged in Crackdown on Drug Dealing Ring in Sofia

November 22 (BTA) - Fifteen persons were detained in
Sofia on November 18 in an operation against drug distribution,
mounted by law enforcers of the General Directorate for
Combating Organized Crime and the Sofia Directorate of the
Interior Ministry under the supervision of the Specialized
Prosecution Office, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said in a
press release on Friday.

A total of 10.5 kg of marijuana and amphetamines, 240,000 leva,
electronic scales, marijuana cutting machines and a number of
other items of incriminating evidence were seized during
searches of the detainees.

The Specialized Criminal Court ordered eight persons to be held
in custody on charges of participating in an organized crime
group for drug distribution. The other seven were released on
5,000 leva bail because they were young (born between 1991 and
1999) and participated in the criminal group to a lesser extent.

A sixteenth participant in the group has been charged in his
absence and has been put on an international wanted list. RY/LG

//