Why was the Deputy Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime relieved of his post?

Deputy Director of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), Kalin Litov, has been relieved of his post, Interior Minister of Interior, Daniel Mitov announced on April 3.

This is the third police chief to leave his post following an internal report on the actions of Ministry of Interior officials during an operation against cigarette smuggling in Plovdiv last November.

The order for Litov’s dismissal was signed yesterday, Mitov stated before the Parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee.

• Deputy Director of the General Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime has been dismissed

When asked whether Litov had been dismissed or reassigned, Mitov clarified:

"He is no longer Deputy Director of GDBOP. He has been reassigned to another position. The Ministry of Interior does not work on denunciations —I made this clear to the members of Parliament, especially to Mr. Bozhanov. We act on facts and circumstances, which are detailed in a classified report sent to the Prosecutor’s Office."

Bozhidar Bozhanov from "We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB) entered into a dispute with Daniel Mitov.

"There is a legal procedure to temporarily suspend an employee for two months, extendable for an additional month, pending a disciplinary investigation. Apparently, the reappointment in question is not in connection with the disciplinary probe, but rather a direct response to the scandal," commented Bozhanov.

BNT: Do you have grounds for disciplinary proceedings against Interior Ministry officials at this stage?

"When we have grounds to initiate proceedings, we do so." Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said.

According to BNT sources, the classified report from the Ministry of Interior has led to the initiation of two pre-trial investigations.

One is being handled by the Plovdiv District Prosecutor’s Office.

The other is in Sofia, with the Anti-Corruption Commission assigned to the case.

Earlier today, the WCC-DB coalition accused the government of political cover-up regarding the smuggling ring uncovered last November.

"We are talking about smuggling rings linked to Peevski and Taki and their proxies in Plovdiv. The money from these smuggling networks was most likely used for vote-buying during elections. We demand the full truth," stated Ivaylo Mirchev from WCC-DB.

Delyan Peevski, a leader of 'MRF - New Beginning' party, quickly responded to these allegations:

"I heard some statements from the country’s biggest smugglers, pretending to lecture us. The smugglers from WCC-DB, Pascal’s people, explaning who was what. Thjey should know that the ‘New Beginning’ cannot be stopped by fabricated stories—all of their smuggling operations will be exposed."

In mid-November, about 30 million pieces of illegally imported cigarettes were seized in two warehouses near Plovdiv. A probe found that three police chiefs tried to obstruct the operation. Two of them left their posts more than a month ago. The third, the deputy head of the directorate for combatting organised crime, Kalin Litov, was suspended yesterday.