site.btaDirectorate for Combating Organised Crime, Agency for National Security Bust Migrant Trafficking Network

A large-scale operation carried out on Thursday by the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and the State Agency for National Security in cooperation with Europol, Greek and Romanian services neutralized a criminal network trafficking migrants from Turkiye through Bulgaria and Serbia to Western and Southern Europe, the Ministry of Interior reported on Friday. The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has brought ten persons to criminal liability.

The investigation began in early 2023, when Bulgarian authorities found migrants who had entered Bulgaria through this network. During the operations, it was established that the alleged drivers - Bulgarian, Romanian and Syrian nationals - had coordinated trafficking activities while maintaining contacts with traffickers in Turkey and Greece, as well as in other countries along the route. Their task at the time was reportedly to transport migrants from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to accommodation in the region of Sofia. The migrants would then be taken to the Bulgarian-Serbian border. For the service, they would have to pay between EUR 3,000 and 5,000 in Istanbul before being taken across the border between Turkiye and Bulgaria.

Ten alleged participants in the criminal scheme have been identified and charged. Eight of them have been detained, and the remaining two have been declared wanted.