site.btaNational Security Agency Busts Migrant Trafficking Ring: 10 Arrests, EUR 800K Profits Exposed

The State Agency for National Security (SANS) dismantled a criminal group involved in migrant trafficking in the Burgas region, the regional prosecution service said during a briefing here on Tuesday.

Ten individuals were detained during the operation, with charges already filed against three of them. If found guilty, they will face up to six years in prison.

The investigation revealed that the organizer of the criminal activity is a 30-year-old man from Sredets, Southeast Bulgaria. The prosecution service noted that he has a criminal record. He was apprehended in the morning after being declared wanted nationwide.

The trafficked individuals were trying to cross the border between Turkiye and Bulgaria to reach Western Europe. The investigation reveals that they paid traffickers between EUR 2,000 and EUR 8,000. Over the course of a year, the criminal group earned between BGN 500,000 and BGN 800,000. Various methods were used to cross the border with Turkiye, such as bypassing border facilities, using fake documents at checkpoints, and transporting people in vehicles with hidden compartments. Most of the foreigners came from Afghanistan and Syria. 

The group had been monitored for a year. To date, 20 legal proceedings have been initiated related to the case.