Nearly 200 People Arrested in Bulgaria in Large-Scale International Operation

During the large-scale international operation Archimedes a total of 187 people have been arrested on the territory of Bulgaria, and 127 criminal proceedings have been opened.

Some 2,248 employees of the Customs Agency, DANS and the Ministry of Interior have taken part in the operation which was held between 15 and 23 September. Law enforcement authorities from 34 countries, coordinated and supported by Europol from its headquarters in The Hague, joined forces in Operation Archimedes.

The operation targeted organized crime groups and their infrastructures across the European Union in a series of actions in hundreds of locations, with the cooperation of Eurojust, Frontex and Interpol.

A UK national, resident of Bulgaria, has been arrested for child sexual exploitation. A number of files (images and video) of boys were found on his computer.

Some 160 people, 157 Bulgarians, Algerian, Syrian and Ukrainian citizens were detained for property crimes.

A total of 198.050 kg of heroin were seized on September 6 near the border checkpoint Danube Bridge 2 in a truck with Polish registration.

"Operation Archimedes is a milestone in attempts by the law enforcement community to deliver concerted action against organized crime groups in Europe. The scale of the operation is unprecedented and the outcome, with over 1000 arrests made across Europe, a reminder to even the most serious criminal groups that the international law enforcement community is determined to combat their illegal activities," says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol.
Focused on disrupting the activities of the most threatening criminal groups and top targets active in key crime hotspots across Europe, the intelligence-led Operation Archimedes saw the participation of law enforcement officers from all 28 EU Member States as well as Australia, Colombia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and the USA.
The raids and other interventions took place in hundreds of locations including airports, border-crossing points, ports and specific crime hot spots in towns and cities.

Results from the operational actions include 1027 individuals arrested, 599 kg of cocaine and 200 kg of heroin seized, 1.3 tonnes of cannabis seized, and 30 children saved from trafficking.

In cooperation with Frontex and EU Member States, around 10 000 irregular migrants were checked which also led to the arrest of criminals facilitating illegal immigration. In total in the overall operation, 170 facilitators were arrested and important intelligence was gathered.

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