site.btaTwo Turkish Citizens Detained for People Smuggling

A Turkish citizen has been detained by Bulgarian authorities after allegedly smuggling 15 citizens of Afghanistan, Egypt, Eritrea, and Somalia across Bulgaria’s maritime border, the Burgas district prosecutor’s office said Monday.

The man has been detained for 72 hours and charged under Bulgaria’s Criminal Code.

His boat with the migrants was intercepted on May 15 about 10 nautical miles east of the village of Sinemorets and around five nautical miles north of the maritime border with Turkey.

The Burgas district prosecutor’s office is expected to request that the court place the suspect in pre-trial detention.

Bulgaria’s Border Police made public another case involving a Turkish national, a driver, who was detained at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing on May 14 when two Iranians, aged 20 and 18, were found hidden inside the vehicle.