A total of 22 people, mainly Syrian citizens, who are members of a clearly structured criminal group involved in the illegal trafficking of migrants across the Bulgarian borders, were detained in an operation conducted by the General Directorate Border Police and the General Directorate National Police in the early morning of October 1 at multiple locations in Sofia, Border Police Director General Anton Zlatanov announced at a briefing on Friday.
He explained that those arrested had used both the country’s green borders and border checkpoints, transporting migrants in vehicles equipped with hidden compartments. “We have documented a total of 10 cases under investigation for migrant smuggling,” Zlatanov added.
“Charges have been brough against seven of those detained, the rest are witnesses,” Angel Papalezov, head of the Criminal Police Department at the National Police General Directorate, said at the briefing.
Zlatanov said that the 22 Bulgarian and foreign citizens were detained on a police order for up to 24 hours. Witnesses were questioned before a judge, and numerous investigative procedures, including searches, inspections, and seizures, were carried out at six addresses used by the organized crime group. Items and objects related to the criminal activity were found and seized, including cell phones, numerous Bulgarian and foreign SIM cards, apartment lease agreements, and registration cards for foreign nationals, Zlatanov reported.
He said that in the course of the investigation, four residences in Sofia were identified that had been used by members of the group to house and hide illegal migrants, primarily from Iran, Syria, and Iraq. In these apartments, they waited for the next stage of their journey toward Romania. They were hidden in foreign-registered trucks and light commercial vehicles, Zlatanov explained. He emphasized that some of the identified migrants had been detained multiple times while attempting to leave the country.
With this case, the Interior Ministry has dismantled 20 organized crime groups involved in migrant smuggling over the past year and a half, which has contributed to the overall decline in this criminal activity in Bulgaria, Zlatanov said. He emphasized that control over both the country’s internal and external exit borders is currently very effective.
Police Detain 22 in Operation Targeting Migrant Smuggling Network 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-02 14:11:15
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