Bulgaria's Interior Ministry is carrying out a new special operation against telephone frauds, codenamed 'The Swindlers.'

During Wednesday raids in the capital Sofia and the north central Bulgarian town of Levski, 5 people have been detained, four of whom have been previously charged with felony.

Operation 'The Swindlers' was launched after the Bulgarian police had received a number of signals for telephone frauds.

The gang members are reported to have made telephone calls, saying that they are from the police and are investigating a case in which a relative of the telephone fraud 'victim' had run over a child in a road accident. The telephone fraudsters then demand the victim a large amount of money in order to free their relative

Most of the telephone calls were made by residents of the Bulgarian town of Levski. A taxi driver was also part of the criminal network – he was responsible for taking the money from those who had been taken in by the phone fraudsters.

Recently, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has performed a number of special operations, busting organized-crime gangs throughout the country.

At the end of April, 2010, Bulgarian commandos detained 5 people in Sofia over charges of illegal registration of cars with the Traffic Police (KAT) to avoid emissions taxes.

During police raids in the Kazanluk city, 7 people were also detained, including an Iranian citizen, in a special operation codenamed ‘Terrorists’, targeting a mafia group involved in the sale of Kalashnikov guns and other weapons.

Meanwhile, police in Stara Zagora and Radnevo busted 3 people during Operation 'Sweeties' who are allegedly involved in the illegal trade of spare parts for specialist tractors that work in the area of the Maritsa Iztok mines.