At 19.45pm on the 132 km of Trakia highway near Plovdiv yesterday, nine Bulgarian citizens and five illegally staying foreigners from Syria and Iraq were detained yesterday.

Charges were pressed against the six the Bulgarians. Details of the operation were revealed today by a long briefing by the regional prosecutor of Bulgaria Gergana Mutafova and the director of the Ministry of Interior Directorate Atanas Ilkov, said correspondent of BGNES.

"Audi" 8 and "Mercedes" were the first two cars stopped. Behind the wheel of the Audi was 50-year-old Nikolay D, and there were two Syrians aged 20-22 in the car with identity papers.

In the Mercedes, run by 33-year-old Lubomir I. of Kostinbrod, there were three Iraqis. After a few minutes, Peugeot with three passengers was stopped , with 37-year-old Kalina K. on board from Haskovo, who, according to initial data, plays a serious role in the organization.

The group also had a pilot vehicle equipped with light and sound signaling that was triggered during the stop by the police. The Peugeot, run by 36-year-old Kamen V. of Kostinbrod, was ten minutes ahead of the rest, and had an intelligence role. The oldest member of the group, 50-year old Nikolay D. of Sofia has a professional background related to the Interior Ministry, but has not been a policeman for a long time, said Commissioner Atanas Ilkov.

“He worked in the system until 1988 and has no criminal past.”

The illegal immigrants were heading to the Harmanli camp. According to initial data, they have paid between 500 and 1000 euro for their transfer from Turkey to Bulgaria. Most likely, their target was a country in Western Europe, but this is still being clarified. For this kind of crime, which includes assistance to illegally staying or passing foreigners through an organized group and with material benefits, the law has a penalty of 1 to 6 years and a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 leva. The group has been observed for two months.