Balgarianovinite.com The Interior Ministry is carrying out a specialized operation to dismantle an organized criminal group involved in migrant trafficking in Sofia, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Border Police Director, said in a bTV interview on Sunday. The operation involves teams from the General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, the National Police, the Sofia Directorate of the Interior Ministry, and Border Police.
Zlatanov explained that although illegal migrants have not stopped attempting to cross through Bulgaria, such cases have decreased sharply. “In 2023 the scale was enormous – every day, especially in the summer and autumn months, we stopped around 1,500 illegal migrants at the border, and another 400 to 500 who had already crossed were detained in the border zone. In the past 24 hours, we blocked 47 at the border and did not detain any inside the country,” he explained.
He said traffickers’ fees depend on several factors. “If the crossing is easy, the fee is low and the groups are large, in 2023 we were finding some 100 to 120 people packed into a single truck. Now we haven’t detected a vehicle carrying more than 20,” Zlatanov said. He added that prices have risen because crossing Bulgaria has become more difficult. Traffickers charge migrants for transit across the entire territory, not just for crossing the border, as they want to pass through and exit the country. “The price also depends on what ‘extras’ the trafficker offers, the cheapest method is making migrants run and hide in forests for days; the more expensive ones involve specially modified vehicles with hidden compartments. The highest price we have encountered is EUR 20,000 per migrant to cross Bulgaria, while the lowest is EUR 1,000,” Zlatanov said.
“In the past two years, we have significantly strengthened our operational and investigative work, and each month we have neutralized at least one or two organized crime groups involved in migrant trafficking. The people at the top, the leaders, are being detained, ending up in custody and eventually in prison, which means their groups can no longer operate,” he said. Zlatanov added that by the end of 2026 the entire border will be fully covered by video surveillance. Interior Ministry Conducts Operation Against Migrant-Trafficking Crime Ring in Sofia 2025 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-11-23 11:56:28 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
