A group fro trafficking of large quantities of heroin from Turkey through Bulgaria to the Netherlands has been busted, prosecutors say.

The action was held on September 20. The leader of the group, who is a Bulgarian citizen, has been detained. Searches, seizures and questioning of witnesses were carried out.

The day before - on September 19, 2019, in the border town of Komotini, Greek police detained three participants in the criminal group - all of them residents of Sliven. They were seized with 42 kilos of heroin just after they received the drug from Albanian traffickers. The drug was supposed to arrive in Bulgaria and then be delivered by car to the Netherlands.

The actions of the three traffickers in Greece were monitored by the Bulgarian authorities and were awaiting them at Kulata border checkpoint. However, the Greek police, who in turn monitored the Albanians, detained them and the Bulgarians.

The four-member drug trafficking team has been monitored by DGSD staff since May 2019.

The investigation has so far found that the group has been trafficking large quantities of heroin from Turkey through Bulgaria to the Netherlands, using various brands of equipped cars, mainly vans and minivans to carry the drug across borders. From Turkey to Bulgaria, the drugs were most often trafficked through the Lesovo border checkpoint.

The group leader is in custody with a Special Criminal Court order.