Bulgaria Police Checking Officers' Links to People Smugglers

Bulgarian Interior Ministry's Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov. File photo, BGNES

Police are looking into possible links of offers to people smuggling migrants into Bulgaria, an official has said.

The suspects are working at a police pepartment in the town of Velingrad, next to the border with Turkey, the Interior Ministry's Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov has told private NOVA TV station.

An internal probe conducted by his institution has found five cases of police involvement in people smuggling that possibly occurred in 2015 and at least two for the current year, according to Kostov.

Earlier on Friday, at a forum organized by authorities also attended by Kostov, figures were announced suggesting migratory pressure on Bulgaria's border with Turkey has dropped by 50% over the past few months compared to the same period of last year, with some 10 000 attempts of illegal crossings since the beginning of January.

The event brought together police and volunteer patrols along the border some of whom have sparked controversy carrying out "citizens' arrests" of migrants trying to cross into the country.

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