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The five bosses of the Bulgarian kidnappers' gang were brought to the Sofia City Court by a huge number of heavily armed police officers. Photo by BGNES
Five men who were the bosses of the busted Bulgarian high-profile kidnappers’ gang were left in jail for the duration of the investigation.
This was ruled Saturday night by the Sofia City Court, which considered the permanent detention measure put forth by the prosecution for the five men who were the leaders of the gang busted recently in the special police operation codenamed “The Impudent”.
The five bosses of the gang remaining in prison are Ivaylo Evtimov – aka “Yozhi”, who is believed to have been the mastermind of the group, Prokopi Prokopiev – aka “Kulturista” (i.e. “The Bodybuilder”), Anton Petrov, aka “Hamstera” (i.e. “The Hamster”), Lyubomir Simeonov, aka “Grebetsa” (i.e. “The Rower”), and Daniel Dimitrov, aka “Releto” (i.e. “The Relay”).
The last two men had just been arrested Saturday morning at the Kalotina Border Crossing Point as they were entering Bulgaria from Serbia.
The building of the Sofia City Court in the downtown of the capital was heavily guarded by policemen in bulletproof vests.
A total of 27 people were arrested by the police for being a part of the kidnappers’ gang, which is believed to be responsible for at least 12 (and possibly more) of 19 high-profile kidnappings in Bulgaria over the last two years.
The majority of the members of the gang had more minor roles and will be released on bail for the duration of the investigation.
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