Bulgarian police officers detained eighteen illegal migrants in the industrial zone of Yambol in the early hours on Tuesday.

The migrants were detained during a specialised operation when police stopped two cars which appeared to be transporting an unusually large number of passengers.

During the inspection, the police found a total of eighteen men who had illegally crossed the Bulgarian border.

None of the foreigners was in the possession of identity documents and they claimed to come from Afghanistan.

Work on establishing their identity will continue in the distribution centre in the town of Elhovo, the interior ministry informs.

The two men transporting the migrants, a 32-year-old resident of Knezha and 29-year old man from the municipality of Boychinovtsi, have been detained for a period of up to 24 hours.

Work on the case is conducted under the supervision of the district prosecutor's office in Yambol.