site.btaTwo Members of Drug Smuggling Ring Probably Aided Homecoming of Bulgaria's "Cocaine King"

Two members of a crime ring that smuggled drugs by aircraft, which are difficult to detect in Bulgaria, probably aided Evelin "Brendo" Banev to return to this country, caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov told Parliament during Question Time on Friday.

Stoyanov said that information on Banev's homecoming cannot be provided yet.

The Interior Minister recalled that Banev was sentenced several years ago and there is no information that he had crossed the border while he was wanted. He was detained in the area of Kyiv in 2021 but the court released him because he held Ukrainian citizenship. 

Stoyanov pointed out that an investigation into the group that may have aided Banev is running in parallel with the probe into the way he surfaced back home.

Evelin "Brendo" Banev, known as Bulgaria's cocaine king, 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. Banev has been sentenced to 6 years' imprisonment for money laundering in Bulgaria, 20 years for cocaine trafficking in Italy, and 10 years for cocaine trafficking in Romania. He surrendered to the Bulgarian authorities on June 24 and is currently held at Sofia's Central Prison. On June 28, the Interior Ministry said it has information according to which Banev had entered the territory of Bulgaria between late March 2022 and early June 2022.