Captain, Ship Owner Knew about Huge Cocaine Cargo, Bulgaria Claims

The owner and the captain of the SV Nikolay ship that was busted off Spain carrying 3000 kilos of high purity cocaine knew about the cocaine shipment, Bulgaria's Interior Minister has claimed.

In an interview for the Btv channel on Friday, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov pointed out that "there was no way" the captain could have been unaware of the cargo.

Everyone who is arrested for this type of crime says they are innocent, Tsvetanov noted, referring to ship owner Doychin Doychev, who had already protested his innocence.

Tsvetanov stated that the two men that were arrested in Bulgaria Thursday in connection with the seizing of the 3 tons of cocaine had a key role in the drug trafficking operation.

He stated that their names were Hristo and Ruslan, the latter being still in custody.

Spanish authorities nabbed Tuesday 31 people, including 21 Bulgarians, after seizing 3 tons of cocaine brought from South America on the SV Nikolay ship that was caught off the southern coast.

The ship is owned by Burgas-based company Seaborne Trade.

People from the maritime transport business, speaking off-the-record for Darik radio, have commented that Seaborne workers have not received their salaries for a while and it could be possible that they were aware of the content of the shipment.

Speaking for the Bulgarian Telegraph daily, Tsvetanov explained that there was a link between the seizing of the huge amount of narcotic and the earlier arrest of alleged Bulgarian drug lord, Evelin Banev AKA Brando, who is suspected of having been part of an Italian gang for years.