Illegal Drugs Turf War Suspected in Sofia Mobster Shooting

Crime | January 31, 2013, Thursday // 14:13
Illegal Drugs Turf War Suspected in Sofia Mobster Shooting: Illegal Drugs Turf War Suspected in Sofia Mobster Shooting Crime boss, Zlatomir Ivanov aka Baretata (The Beret, The Barret) was shot Tuesday in broad daylight in the vicinity of the main courtroom building in the Bulgarian capital. Photo by BGNES

Money disputes and illegal drugs turf wars could be behind the attack on top Bulgarian mobster Baretata.

Crime boss, Zlatomir Ivanov aka Baretata (The Beret, The Barret) was shot Tuesday in broad daylight in the vicinity of the main courtroom building in the Bulgarian capital as he was going there for an appeals hearing in an illegal drugs distribution case against him.

The two leads were announced Thursday by Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov. He, however, stated that no lead will be prioritized until the conclusion of the entire probe.

Tsvetanov grounded the above information on recent tensions in Baretata's circles over the drugs distribution market and unsettled money deals.

The Minister further informed the police were searching for clues among all known underworld figures. He reminded that in the 90s of the 20th century, Baretata has been a partner of another alleged notorious ringleader – Alexey Petrov AKA The Octopus / The Tractor.

He refused to give concrete names of possible suspects in order to not impede the initial stages of the investigation.

"We are not ruling out any lead. I am sure the colleagues will go to the bottom of this whole story," Tsvetanov stressed.

Baretata is in the central life-support ward of the emergency Pirogov hospital on respiratory apparatus and on cardiac medications. He is still in critical condition.

A bodyguard, who returned fire, was also shot in the leg. He is in stable condition.

The shots came from a rooftop apartment of a building across the street from the court. The assailants allegedly set the apartment on fire to cover up tracks.

Police found inside the premises a Kalashnikov machinegun.

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Tags: Alexey Petrov, underworld, money, turf wars, illegal drugs, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Interior Minister, sofia, capital, main courtroom building, shooting, the Barret, The Beret, Baretata, Zlatomir Ivanov, crime boss

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