2 Arrested in Bulgaria over Spain's Massive Cocaine Bust

The 3 tons of cocaine seized in Spain is of very high grade and its value is estimated at around EUR 150 M. Photo by lavozdegalicia.es

Two men have been arrested in Bulgaria in connection with the seizing 3 tons of cocaine by Spanish authorities on a Bulgarian-owned ship.

The new was reported by the Interior Ministry's press office Thursday.

One of the arrested, R.K., 37, from the capital Sofia, was allegedly the organizer of the narcotics transport. He has a clean criminal record.

The second one is H.H., 46, also from Sofia. He has a long rap sheet for a number of crimes and has been tried in another country. He is believed to have been involved with the hiring of part of the crew.

Spanish authorities nabbed Tuesday 31 people, including 21 Bulgarians, after seizing 3 tons of cocaine brought from South America on a ship caught off the southern coast.

The operation codenamed Cartel has been carried out jointly by the Bulgarian Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, GDBOP, the French police and the US DEA and the UK COCA.

The cocaine is of very high grade and its value is estimated at around EUR 150 M.

The SV Nikolay (Saint Nikolay) ship is owned by Burgas-based company Seaborne Trade.

People from the maritime transport business, speaking off-the-record for Darik radio, have commented that Seaborne workers have not received their salaries for a while and it could be possibly that they were aware of the content of the shipment.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirms they knew about the bust since Tuesday, but no one from the Bulgarians in the crew has requested official assistance.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated Thursday that Bulgarian sailors could not be warned not to get on board.

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