site.btaLarge Marijuana Haul in Sunny Beach Resort

Nearly 60 kg of marijuana were seized in the Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach and two arrests were made on late Wednesday afternoon during a specialized police operation.

The news was broken to the media on Thursday by Burgas District Prosecutor Georgi Chinev and the Director of the Interior Ministry's Regional Directorate, Senior Commissioner Emil Pavlov.

Chinev said that the street price of a gramme of marijuana is approximately BGN 30, and the wholesale ranges from BGN 4,000 to BGN 5,000 per kilo.

The seizures were made in two locations.

A total of 252 plants were found in six rooms on the second and third floor of the Megas Hotel that had been converted into a marijuana hothouse, with the furnishings removed and replaced by expensive professional drug-growing equipment. 

Pavlov specified that police checked the hotel last summer and did not find anything suspicious, as the premises were used to accommodate holidaymakers. The conversion had apparently occurred after the end of the high holiday season.

Another 54 marijuana plants were found in a warehouse some 300 m from the hotel which, too, had been turned into a hothouse.

A 41-year-old man from Nessebar was arrested on site at the hotel. Shortly earlier, another man, also from Nessebar, was apprehended in the resort for running the warehouse hothouse.

The two are held in police custody for up to 72 hours. One has been charged with keeping, distributing, planting and growing high-risk substances. The other has been charged with planting and growing. The offences had been committed with an accomplice who is wanted.

The prosecutor explained that part of the marijuana that was found at the hotel was destined for Bulgaria, and another part for Turkey.