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Bulgarian police reports increased illegal migration pressure on Bulgaria

Photo: EPA/BGNES

Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a trend of increasing illegal migration pressure on Bulgaria, as well as the activation of domestic and cross-border criminal networks involved in the illegal transfer of illegal migrants through the so-called "Western Balkan route" to Western Europe. 

The data comes from the General Directorate of the National Police, which were announced today by its director, Chief Commissioner Ventsislav Kirchev, during a meeting of police chiefs of Southeast European countries in Zagreb, with the support of the French police, in the context of the French presidency of the Council of Europe. 

According to the information, mostly foreign nationals, from the starting points of the routes or at the end point of the canal, organize and coordinate the traffic on the route from the Middle East through the Balkans to the countries of Western Europe. The cost of a person's trip from Turkey to a selected destination varies from 3,000 to 7,000 euros. A part of the trafficking of narcotic substances through Bulgaria is carried out through migrants under the so-called "Balkan Route". 

Illegal migrants smuggle mainly heroin and, more recently, methamphetamine, thus paying for the "trafficking service". With regard to marijuana trafficking, the role of Bulgaria as a transit point is growing.



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