One of the biggest groups for smuggling of illegal migrants in the country was broken up

One of the largest criminal groups for smuggling of illegal migrants in the country was disrupted. The investigation has lasted nearly a year, during which more than 40 people have been arrested for migrant smuggling.

Today, February 21, the organisers were arrested in Burgas region. Officers of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) were also involved in the operation. The sums received by the smugglers reached up to 6,000 euros per person transported.

In the special operation today, 10 people with key roles in the network for smuggling of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan were arrested.

"Six of whom have been charged. Two of the persons are the organisers of the criminal group," said Georgi Chinev, head of the Burgas District Prosecutor's Office.

The organisers obtained locations of the migrants from people in Turkey. They sent drivers, hired others to keep an eye out for police officers, and the goal was to get the migrants to the border with Serbia and from there to Western Europe.

"During the time we have been monitoring and working on the group, more than 30 groups of irregular migrants have been detained in vehicles on main roads and motorways. They have crossed either by cutting the fence or by overcoming it with ladders," explained Chief Commissioner Stoyan Mandazhiev, deputy director of DG “Border Police”.

So far, the Ministry of Interior has no evidence that border police officers were involved in the scheme, Minister Kalinh Stoyanov said.

"At the moment we have no such information that there are officers of any Ministry of Interior structure involved," he said.

According to our information, 100 vehicle regisrtation plates for cars used for trafficking were found in the home of one of the organisers of the criminal group in Kameno. The detainees have a wide range of criminal records.

"For theft, for driving vehicles with registrations plates of other vehicles, for threats to kill, sentenses for usury," said Senior Commissioner Lachezar Momchev, director of the Regional Directorate of Police of Burgas.

The Ministry of Interior reports that the price for migrant smuggling has risen significantly in the past few months, and the reason is the tougher measures taken against the crime.

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