Triple Murder near Petrohan: Private Foundation Financed the Activities of the Wanted by the Police Ivaylo Kalushev

A mysterious foundation is reported to have financed the activities of Ivaylo Kalushev, who is currently wanted by police and is believed to be in Mexico. In 2013, the foundation funded underwater dives carried out by his team, and several years later it also supported his work in Bulgaria. Before leaving the country, Kalushev was also active in Bulgaria as a Buddhist teacher. He described his departure as a new beginning together with his closest “students”.

The organisation Cleardeep played a key role in Kalushev’s professional development during his time in Mexico, emerging as his main sponsor. The foundation reportedly provided the necessary resources while Kalushev and his team worked in extreme field conditions.

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Attempts to find out more about Cleardeep have yielded little result. There is virtually no information available online. The foundation’s name is mentioned only on the website of the Édouard-Alfred Martel Speleological Club, which is no longer active. The limited information available suggests that in 2013 Kalushev formed a team tasked with mapping what was described as the world’s longest underwater cave with a single entrance.

According to sources cited by Bulgarian National Television (BNT), with the foundation’s support Kalushev was able to purchase a specialised research base in Mexico. The facility reportedly included accommodation for the team and a compressor station for filling diving cylinders. Unofficial information suggests that more than 2,600 exploratory dives were funded between 2013 and 2018. Although the exact sums are not public, the mapping project is believed to have required assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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In 2020, the same foundation assisted Kalushev in Bulgaria once again, this time in the exploration of a large cave system known informally as “System M”.

Before leaving for Mexico, Kalushev appeared in the public spotlight in 2010 as one of the key figures in a rescue operation in Bulgaria’s longest cave, Duhlata. Seven people, including three children, were trapped inside for more than 48 hours after underground rivers swelled. Kalushev stood out as one of the principal rescuers.

Ivaylo Kalushev, 2010:
“I pulled the little one out.
— Where did you find them?
Where we expected — quite deep inside the cave. Everything is fine, but it was very difficult. No, I’m not a hero. Just a rescuer.”

Kalushev, however, had another role as well — that of a spiritual teacher. BNT holds a two-hour lecture given by him on 1 October 2011, entitled “The Path of Meditation in the Old School of Tibetan Buddhism”.

Ivaylo Kalushev, 9 November 2011:
“In Buddhism, the teacher is someone who is there to slap us the moment we lose awareness — and we lose awareness constantly. If we remove the physical slap and leave only an astral one, things become very slippery.”

The recording suggests that at the time Kalushev was part of a spiritual organisation.

Ivaylo Kalushev, 9 November 2011:
“If anyone wants to stay in touch with us, it’s easy through the website, through the forum. You can take a card with the address outside. If there is anything we can help with, while we are here, we will do it. How long we will be here is unclear.”

Further information about Kalushev’s spiritual path can be found on internet forums, where he is described as charismatic, able to attract people easily, and inclined towards cultivating a personality cult. He is said to have left Bulgaria with his closest “students”, seeking a fresh start.

“I even remember there was a user in that discussion who had once been a member of their organisation. Kalushev had asked for money and ‘donations’. That person said he had given tens of thousands of leva — this was about 20 years ago — and in the end he was ignored. They packed up and left for Mexico. And how many others like him might there have been?”

Shortly afterwards, the idea of a commune in the jungles of Mexico reportedly evolved into a diving club.