Three individuals have been formally charged following a large-scale international operation that targeted Bulgaria’s largest pirate platforms - Arena, Zamunda, and Zelka. The initiative involved the National Anti-Corruption Agency, the Bulgarian State Security Agency, Europol, and US authorities, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Alongside copyright violations, authorities are investigating possible money laundering linked to financial transactions from a company associated with the defendants, which lead to a Bulgarian currently serving a 12-year sentence in the United States for laundering funds via crypto assets.

The operation encompassed 44 websites and included 30 coordinated searches across commercial offices and private properties in Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, and Pernik. Seized assets included computer equipment, vehicles, and other material evidence. Four people were detained during the raids, three of whom have now been charged. The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office is handling cases concerning money laundering, tracking suspicious financial flows within and outside the European Union. Meanwhile, the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office oversees investigations into the creation and maintenance of information systems that facilitate copyright infringement.

Authorities emphasized that the operation’s purpose was not only to shut down the torrent platforms but also to improve Bulgaria’s standing regarding copyright compliance. Svetoslav Vassilev from the National Anti-Piracy Organization noted that Bulgaria has remained on the US "301 list," which monitors countries for intellectual property violations, and the continued operation of major pirate sites prevented the country from being removed from this blacklist.

The Cybercrime Sector of the General Prosecutor’s Office, established last summer, coordinated the technical and investigative aspects of the operation. The agencies involved carried out complex computer-technical assessments of all seized systems to trace digital and financial evidence. According to Boyan Raev, director of the Directorate for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism, the operation detected financial transactions linking one of the companies to a Bulgarian serving a prison sentence in the US.

Desislava Petrova from the State Anti-Money Laundering Agency explained that charges for money laundering will be pursued if sufficient evidence emerges. Operational measures identified multiple addresses, vehicles, and bank accounts associated with the suspects. Europol and US authorities provided coordination, while the National Investigation Service and the State Police executed the seizures and ongoing investigations.

The scale of the operation remains substantial, but investigators stress it is in its initial stages. The charges against the three individuals cover both intellectual property violations through the creation and maintenance of torrent sites and potential money laundering activities. Authorities aim to dismantle organized digital piracy networks and restore Bulgaria’s compliance with international copyright standards.

This operation represents one of the most extensive coordinated actions against online piracy in Bulgaria, combining local law enforcement, national security agencies, and international partners to target both the technological and financial infrastructure behind the illegal platforms.