2 Police Officers Arrested and Charged with Drug Distribution and Taking Bribes

The specialized prosecutor's office has accused two police officers from the 7th Police Station in Sofia of distributing drugs and taking bribes. They were detained on 15th of October 2017 in a specialized operation of the Internal Security Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and the Specialized Prosecutor's Office.

Until the arrest, they worked in the area of anti-drug distribution. The Interior Ministry began the investigation in July 2017 following information that the two police officers themselves were involved in drug distribution.

On 15^th of October 2017, the two officers were detained at the time they were accepting a bribe of BGN 2,000. The banknotes were "marked" by the investigators. The evidence gathered so far indicates that they have sold amphetamines, marijuana and other narcotic drugs to drug dealers, who in turn traded them in the region in which the police station where the two officers worked was responsible for.

At the same time, the two police officers collected BGN 2,000 "fee for peace" from each dealer per month.

Those who refused to pay the “fee” were threatened that they would be detained by the police and that pre-trial proceedings would be brought against them.

During searches carried out in a special concealment at the home of one of the police officers, the investigation found and seized various colour tablets, distributed in nylon bags. According to field tests the tablets were amphetamines.

A final conclusion on the tablet content will be provided by an expert report.

The two police officers, one of whom has long experience in the Ministry of Interior, acted in full conspiracy. They communicated with the dealers only through internet applications and "straight talk" phones (used only for connection between them).

By orders of a prosecutor from the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, the two were detained for up to 72 hours. On October 17, 2017, the Special Criminal Court will be requested to impose a "Detention on remand" for each of them.