2 Bulgarian Suspects in Cocaine Ship Released

Bulgaria's Specialized Criminal Court released late on Monday two suspects allegedly involved in the shipment of 3 tons of cocaine on a Bulgarian ship that was busted in Spain last week.

The suspects are Doychin Doychev, owner of the Seaborne Trade company and the Saint Nikolay ship, and Ruslan Kolev, the man who recruited the ship's sailors.

The two were released without being subjected to any measure of restraint.

Kolev and Doychev have been charged with organizing, running and participating in an organized crime group connected to the Saint Nikolai ship caught with with three tons of cocaine on board in Spanish waters .

The magistrates ruled Monday that there was no evidence for the existence of an organized crime group after the investigating authorities failed to prove that the two defendants and the captain of the Saint Nikolai vessel had known each other.

On August 15, Spanish authorities nabbed 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 was carried out jointly by GDBOP, the French police, the US DEA and the UK COKA.

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