Arms Dealers in Bulgaria Searched over Suspicions of Supplying Weapons to Russia

At the request of the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, searches are being conducted in Bulgaria targeting arms dealers accused of breaching international sanctions and supplying weapons to Russia, BNT sources said on August 12.

The National Investigation Service has entered the offices of Sage Consultants AD, one of the largest arms traders in Bulgaria. The company is owned by businessmen Gencho Hristov and Hristo Hristov.

Authorities in Kyiv allege that Sage Consultants circumvented sanctions against Russia. Little is publicly known about the firm’s owners. Hristo Hristov made headlines in 2019 after it emerged that he had purchased a luxury property in Beverly Hills for $34.6 million.

In addition to the Ukrainian request, Bulgarian prosecutors are investigating Sage Consultants’ owners for allegedly supplying weapons and ammunition to Mexico’s “Jalisco” cartel- designated a terrorist organisation by the United States..

Recently, it was revealed that, earlier this year, at the request of US authorities, Bulgarian national Petar Mirchev was detained in Spain on charges of delivering 50 Kalashnikov rifles and 140,000 rounds of ammunition to the Mexican cartel. Bulgarian security services are checking operational information suggesting the arms and ammunition were purchased from the company owned by Gencho and Hristo Hristov. Mirchev allegedly intended to supply the cartel with drones and anti-tank weapons as well.

Today’s operation by Bulgarian investigators at the offices and residences of Sage Consultants’ owners comes just days after Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov visited the National Investigation Service alongside officers from the FBI’s Sofia office.

The special operation involves investigators from the National Investigation Service, officers from the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime (GDBOP), and the General Directorate “Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Counterterrorism” (GDJSOBT). Searches and seizures are taking place in Sofia and other parts of the country.

The actions, carried out under the supervision of the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office, are being conducted in execution of a request for legal assistance from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau.