site.bta850 Kg of Hemp Destroyed in August - Border Police

More than 850 kg of hemp plants have been destroyed on the territory of the country since the beginning of the month, the Director of the General Directorate Border Police, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, said at a briefing in one of the hemp fields here on Wednesday. The Ministry of Interior is actively countering the production, distribution and use of illicit drugs, as this is one of the Ministry's main priorities.

A special police operation against the distribution of drugs is being conducted in the border areas. The operation, which started a month ago, is a systematic one, Zlatanov emphasized. Five fields planted with hemp, some 100 acres, are getting destroyed in the land-use areas of Burgas, Petrich, Strumyani and Zlatarevo on Wednesday. Since the beginning of August, 14 pre-trial proceedings have been initiated, eight persons have been arrested, six of whom have been indicted.

Since the beginning of 2023, around one tonne of hemp plants has been destroyed in the border area between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia alone. Some 870 kg of hemp have been destroyed across the country in August. In some cases, the police are able to apprehend the persons who cared for these plants. In other cases, the police's priority is to destroy the plants before they can be dried out to be sold on the market.

Zlatanov praised the good cooperation between his Directorate and General Directorate National Police, General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime, the regional directorates of the Ministry of Interior.