Bulgarian police detained three groups of illegal immigrants, numbering a total of 58 people, in the province of Burgas on Sunday.

One of the groups was arrested in one of the neighbourhoods of Burgas when officers from the first district department stopped a vehicle for inspection.

The driver had earlier dropped off 16 men from the vehicle, who were later uncovered at an abandoned building, Darik radio reports.

None of them was in the possession of identity documents, but they identified themselves as being Afghan citizens.

Trafficking proceedings were opened against the driver, while the foreigners were taken to the migration department of the police.

In a separate case, the drivers of six vehicles were detained near the village of Rosen in the municipality of Sozopol.

The drivers were transporting 32 foreigners, who identified themselves as citizens of Afghanistan having illegally entered into Bulgaria.

The drivers were detained for 24 hours, while the foreigners were taken to the migration department of the police.

A third group was uncovered after police officers stopped a vehicle for inspection in Burgas.

Ten people were traveling in the vehicle – two men, their wives, five children and a baby.

None of them was in the possession of identity documents, but they identified themselves as citizens of Iraq.

According to them, the driver of the vehicle transported them to a certain point and then walked away.

Earlier on Saturday, Bulgarian authorities detained a Turkish driver transporting 31 illegal immigrants in a truck bearing a Romanian licence plate in the town of Malko Tarnovo.