Migration pressure: Sharp increase in the number of newly opened investigations for smuggling

Former border police officer Valentin Hristov, who was detained in Greece in connection to the death of the 18 illegal migrants in the abandoned truck near Lokorsko, has agreed to be handed over to the Bulgarian authorities, Siyka Mileva, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General said on February 22, in response to a question by BNT.

The Prosecutor's office also announced that the number of investigations for smuggling is increasing, but those for organised crime groups involved in illegal trafficking are decreasing.

The Prosecutor's office has reported a sharp increase in the number of new investigations for smuggling in the past two years. It appears that as migration pressures increase, more and more smugglers of illegal migrants through the country are being arrested, charged and brought to justice. At the same time, those acquitted are proving to be few.

"In the same reported period, there has been a significant decline in the results achieved in the fight against organised crime, in particular the detection of organised criminal groups. In our opinion, this decline is due to the closure of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office, which had proved its effectiveness in the fight against organised crime. In the 9-month period of 2022, only 51 pre-trial proceedings were newly initiated in the field of organised crime. In comparison to 2020, when they were 3 times more," said Siyka Mileva, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General.

Mileva added that in recent months, there has been a sharp improvement in the interaction between the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's office in the detection, investigation and proof of crimes related to human trafficking across the country. The caretaker Minister of Interior commented that the operational services in the Ministry of Interior are now working on organised crime groups that are involved in trafficking.

"We are currently working on more such cases involving OCGs. They will be completed soon. The work in this area is a bit more specific, because to prove a group, to identify and collect the necessary evidence requires much more time. So some of these investigations, along with the other actions, will be completed now," said Ivan Demerdzhiev, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

"If there is enough evidence for criminal liability, persons who have committed this type of crime will be charged," Siyka Mileva said.

However, Mileva said the problem of low penalties is serious. The main text of the law does not even provide for a minimum penalty.

"It is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 BGN. So a smuggler receives a reward of about 5,000 BGN for transporting just one migrant," Mileva said.

The caretaker Minister of Interior also commented that work is underway to detect officials who help illegal migrants cross the border.

"At the moment we are planning to equip the border with drones, which will, among other things, monitor the actions of our officers along the border and I assure you that the moment they start working, the corruption will come down to levels very close to zero," Demerdzhiev said.

Minister of Interior: Drones will monitor the border crossings and the work of border guards

Demerdzhiev also commented that jointly Europol and services from the countries through which the migrant flow passes have already started investigations to establish the entire chain of trafficking and to reach the highest levels of the organisers.