Prosecutors Seek Detention for Five Suspects Linked to Fentanyl Laboratory Network

The Ruse District Prosecutor’s Office has requested the detention of five people involved in groups linked to the dismantled fentanyl laboratory. For two pf them, prosecutors are seeking house arrest, while one person is to be released on bail, Ruse District Prosecutor Radislav Gradev said at a briefing on August 7.

The investigation has established that two criminal groups were operating in Ruse and Sofia.

One group consisted of five members, while the other had three, one of whom was its leader. Notably, the leader of the first group was also found to have been in charge of both groups.

The leaders of the groups have been charged with organising and leading a criminal organisation, an offence punishable by five to 15 years in prison. The penalties for participants are lower.

Photo: BTA

Ruse anti-mafia officers first uncovered traces of the group producing fentanyl in Sofia.

A further charge has also been brought for possession of particularly large quantities of narcotic substances, which carries the same potential sentence of five to 15 years in prison.

The attention of the Ruse Prosecutor’s Office was drawn to fentanyl following a case in July 2024, when a drug-addicted person died after using narcotics in the courtyard of a kindergarten in the city.

The amount of fentanyl discovered so far is 12.6 kilogrammes, with an estimated value of more than €300 million, although this figure could increase, said the Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP), Chief Commissioner Martin Zlatkov.

Chief Commissioner Martin Zlatkov, GDBOP: "After completing our operations yesterday evening, late in the evening, the total amount of fentanyl we discovered in the laboratory and at various addresses in Sofia and across the country was 12.6 kilogrammes. Around 10 kilogrammes of amphetamine, around two kilograms of methamphetamine and around 300 grams of heroin were also found. Illegal firearms were also discovered. Cash sums were seized as well. At the home of one of the detainees, there was a safe in which we found around €310,000 in cash. At another address, we found a flash drive which, after examination, we believe contains cryptocurrency worth around $110,000."

Further analyses of the seized drugs are still to be carried out at the Military Medical Academy (VMA).