Ognjan Atanasov, also known as the "Bulgarian Escobar," was pardoned at the end of 2022 by the presidential institution in Bulgaria.
In 2022, medical documents from an expert medical commission were presented to the Commission on Pardons in the Presidency, indicating that Atanasov's health had been continuously deteriorating over the past 20 years. The conclusion was that his sentence was incompatible with his health condition and posed a danger to his life.
Ten years were commuted from his 15-year sentence for importing, trafficking, and selling drugs in Greece.
The cocaine, with which Atanasov and his accomplice Asen Chorata were apprehended on February 18th in the village of Gradevo, was valued at over 560,000 Bulgarian BGN. Along with them, seven other men were arrested, who are believed to be part of an organised crime group involved in drugs distribution.
Yesterday, February 19, the prosecutor's office indicted 7 of the detainees, and according to information from BNT, Atanasov is considered the leader of the group, and Chorata as the second in the hierarchy. The drugs have been distributed in Blagoevgrad region for at least the past two years.
Ognyan Atanasov, also known as the "Bulgarian Escobar", in 2019 was sentenced to 15-years of imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in Thessaloniki for importing, trafficking and selling drugs in Greece.
He was transferred to Bulgaria to serve his sentence. At the end of 2022, he was pardoned and released from prison. At the beginning of 2023, he resumed his criminal activities, but not in Greece. Instead, he began distributing cocaine primarily in Southwestern Bulgaria.
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