Bulgaria Smashes Migrant Smuggling Ring to Romania
Four men were arrested after Bulgarian police dismantled a network smuggling migrants from Greece and Turkey through Bulgaria towards the Romanian border.
Illustration: AI-generated image
Bulgarian border police have dismantled an organised crime group that smuggled migrants across the country’s southern borders and towards Romania, arresting four men in a coordinated operation on Tuesday.
The General Directorate of Border Police carried out the operation after a preliminary investigation initiated by the Border Police Department in Momchilgrad, according to a press release from the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior. The criminal network had been active on Bulgarian territory since February 2026.
The smugglers transported people across both the Bulgarian-Greek and Bulgarian-Turkish borders. Once inside Bulgaria, the migrants were driven through the country with the aim of crossing illegally into Romania, the ministry said. Most of those transported were citizens of Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
During the operation, investigators searched seven addresses and seized items linked to the group’s activities. The four arrested men, aged 47, 25, 21, and 18, live in the Kardzhali and Pazardzhik regions and are known to law enforcement from previous incidents.
They have been charged with participation in a criminal structure under Article 321, paragraph 6 of the Bulgarian Criminal Code. A supervising prosecutor from the Kardzhali District Prosecutor’s Office ordered their detention for up to 72 hours while the investigation continues.
The operation highlights ongoing cross-border cooperation in tackling people smuggling along the Balkan route, which often targets Romania as a transit country towards Western Europe.
Local authorities have not released further details about the migrants involved or their current whereabouts.
