site.btaNumber of Detained Migrants, Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration Investigations Almost Doubles in July

The Interior Ministry and the prosecution service reported almost twice as many detained migrants and human trafficking and illegal migration investigations in July. A total of 492 specialised police operations were carried out. The data are from the Specialised Inter-agency Unit between the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry dealing with narcotics and human trafficking.

According to the information, a total of 1,004 third-country nationals were detained in July 2024 across the country, while in June there were 557. Most of them were apprehended by the Sofia city police - 398, the Sofia regional police - 170 and the Stara Zagora police - 121.

In July, there was an increase in pre-trial proceedings for illegal trafficking in human beings and illegal migration - 283 compared to 168 in June.

The analysis of the Specialized Inter-agency Unit shows that the pre-trial proceedings initiated for crimes related to production, possession and distribution of drugs in July were 432. A total of 514 specialised police operations were conducted and 949 people were arrested. Among the seized drugs the most was cannabis - over 515 kg, marijuana - nearly 402 kg, eight kg of amphetamine, etc.

According to Interior Ministry data for June a total of 943 migrants have been detained, of which 242 crossing the border into Bulgaria, 212 were crossing out of this coutnry and were unregistered. The biggest shares were made up of people from Syria - 46.8% and Afghanistan - 38.6%.