site.btaPolice Administer Over 40,000 Drug Tests to Drivers in 11 Months - Interior Minister

Over 40,000 drug tests have been administered to drivers in the first 11 months of last year, caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov said here on Friday in Parliament.

He noted 3,400 of them were positive. A total of 2,235 people were further tested in a laboratory and the blood tests of 1,095 came back negative for drugs.

During the same period, nearly 3,650 orders for suspension of driving licenses were issued and 1,387 vehicle license plates were revoked. 

Nearly 400 drivers had their license returned and the license plates of 225 vehicles were returned after the lab test results came back negative, Ilkov said.

The timeframe for blood test results has been reduced from 14 months to six months, with the aim of making it even shorter in 2025. 

Work is underway to complete four laboratories in the country and recruitment is underway, Ilkov reported.