More than 12.5 kilogrammes of fentanyl have been seized from an illegal laboratory in Sofia's Fakulteta district, Bulgaria's General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP) and the District Prosecutor's Office in Ruse announced at a joint briefing. The drugs are estimated to be worth more than €300 million. Investigators also found €310,000 in cash at the home of one of those arrested, along with more than 10 kilogrammes of amphetamine and heroin.
Speaking on the morning programme 'The Day Begins' on August 7, Interior Ministry's Acting Chief Secretary, Lyubomir Nikolov, said fentanyl has largely replaced heroin on Bulgaria's illicit drug market in recent years.
The investigation into the fentanyl network began in July last year after a lifeless body was discovered in the yard of a kindergarten in Ruse. Authorities later determined that the person had died after using fentanyl. Over the following six months, investigators traced two organised criminal groups led by the same individual. One group was responsible for manufacturing the drug, while the other handled its distribution.
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Lyubomir Nikolov, Acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: "We have not detected a single gram of this type of narcotic being either imported into or exported from the country. That indicated — and all the analyses pointed to the same conclusion — that fentanyl was being produced somewhere within the country's territory."
Investigators establish that the fentanyl originates from Sofia and is transported to the interior of the country, where it is distributed mainly among drug-dependent people from disadvantaged social backgrounds. The dangerous drug is cheap and, for that reason, accessible. To uncover the route of the drugs, investigators resort to deploying undercover agents.
Radoslav Gradev, District Prosecutor of Ruse*: "A controlled transaction was carried out. Undercover officers were also involved."
In this way, investigators manage to trace the production of the fentanyl that is reaching the market.
Martin Zlatkov, Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime - Ministry of the Interior*: "We started from ordinary street-level distribution and, working step by step over a period of months, we managed to follow the trail that led us to the laboratory in the Fakulteta neighbourhood of Sofia."
During the investigation, in separate operations targeting dealers, investigators managed to seize several kilograms of fentanyl, with the largest quantity discovered in storage facilities located specifically in the Fakulteta neighbourhood. They tracked down those responsible for supplying the dealers, who turned out to be the link to the production operation.
Lyubomir Nikolov, Acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior: "And the moment we established that individuals whom we suspected of being drug producers were entering the site on a daily basis — as the equipment they were carrying suggested that they were working with hazardous materials, which we subsequently confirmed at the base — we immediately moved to take action, because every single gram that reaches the market causes enormous harm."
It emerged that the laboratory was producing quantities on a daily basis sufficient to meet the demand for fentanyl across the entire country.
Martin Zlatkov, Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime - Ministry of the Interior*: "We believe that this production facility was meeting and covering the fentanyl needs of the whole of Bulgaria. We believe that they were also supplying other cities across the country. We have such information."
Fifteen shipments to different locations across the country, along with the couriers, have been seized over the past two months. As a result, the total amount of fentanyl seized from April to the present day exceeds 25 kilogrammes.
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