site.btaInterior Ministry Conducts Operation Against Migrant-Trafficking Crime Ring in Sofia

The Interior Ministry is carrying out a specialized operation to dismantle an organized criminal group involved in migrant trafficking in Sofia, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Border Police Director, said in a bTV interview on Sunday. The operation involves teams from the General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, the National Police, the Sofia Directorate of the Interior Ministry, and Border Police.

Zlatanov explained that although illegal migrants have not stopped attempting to cross through Bulgaria, such cases have decreased sharply. “In 2023 the scale was enormous – every day, especially in the summer and autumn months, we stopped around 1,500 illegal migrants at the border, and another 400 to 500 who had already crossed were detained in the border zone. In the past 24 hours, we blocked 47 at the border and did not detain any inside the country,” he explained.

He said traffickers’ fees depend on several factors. “If the crossing is easy, the fee is low and the groups are large, in 2023 we were finding some 100 to 120 people packed into a single truck. Now we haven’t detected a vehicle carrying more than 20,” Zlatanov said. He added that prices have risen because crossing Bulgaria has become more difficult. Traffickers charge migrants for transit across the entire territory, not just for crossing the border, as they want to pass through and exit the country. “The price also depends on what ‘extras’ the trafficker offers, the cheapest method is making migrants run and hide in forests for days; the more expensive ones involve specially modified vehicles with hidden compartments. The highest price we have encountered is EUR 20,000 per migrant to cross Bulgaria, while the lowest is EUR 1,000,” Zlatanov said.

“In the past two years, we have significantly strengthened our operational and investigative work, and each month we have neutralized at least one or two organized crime groups involved in migrant trafficking. The people at the top, the leaders, are being detained, ending up in custody and eventually in prison, which means their groups can no longer operate,” he said. Zlatanov added that by the end of 2026 the entire border will be fully covered by video surveillance.