18 people suffocate in a truck in Bulgaria trying to illegally enter Western Europe. A day later, the police arrested seven suspects, including the suspected smuggler boss. So far, Bulgaria has been known for its lenient treatment of criminal people-smugglers. That should change.
In Bulgaria, police have broken up a ring of smugglers believed to be responsible for the deaths of 18 migrants in a truck. The head of the investigative agency, Borislaw Sarafov, spoke in Sofia of an “organized criminal group” that takes migrants at the EU’s external border with Turkey and then takes them by truck to the border area in Serbia. Police arrested seven suspects. According to the information, the suspected leader of the trafficking ring was among those arrested.
On Friday, the police found 18 suffocated people from Afghanistan in a truck parked not far from the capital Sofia – including a child. 34 survivors received medical treatment. According to the hospital, several of the survivors suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning because they had inhaled exhaust fumes in the poorly insulated truck. The people got little oxygen and were severely dehydrated, said the emergency doctor Spas Spaskow the television station Nova. In addition, they had not eaten for days.
According to the police, the migrants were hidden under a load of wood in the truck. The people were therefore smuggled from Turkey to Bulgaria. Migrants often cross this external EU border irregularly in order not to be registered at a border crossing. The border “can be jumped very easily using a simple ladder,” Sarafov said. Bulgaria completed a barbed wire fence on the EU’s external border with Turkey in 2017.
“You should probably think about strengthening border protection,” Sarafov said. “The ultimate destination of the migrants is mainly Britain, Germany and France,” Sarafov said. They paid 6,000 to 7,000 euros per person for their journey. The Bulgarian smugglers received part of the money – the drivers 100 euros for a transported migrant and the leader of the group up to 1000 euros per person.
Because of irregular migration, in December 2022 Austria and the Netherlands blocked Bulgaria’s entry into the border-free Schengen area. According to the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, the border police prevented 164,000 attempts at “irregular border crossings” last year. In 2021, the number was 55,000. The Bulgarian government plans stricter laws against people smuggling. So far, people smugglers have usually only been sentenced to a fine or suspended sentences.
