Bulgarian Smuggler Gets Prison Sentence for Transporting 146 Migrants in Truck

The district court in Svilengrad convicted a 28-year-old Bulgarian of smuggling. He is to spend one year and eight months in prison under strict regime. The court also issued him with a fine of BGN 1500.

On 20 September 2015, the smuggler was driving MAN truck bearing Burgas licence plates.

Upon entering Bulgaria through the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint at the border with Turkey, migrants started exiting from the truck after they had burst open the carriage.

Border police officers established that a total of 146 migrants from Iraq and Iran were transported in the truck. Among them were men, women and children between three and fifteen years of age.

The driver managed to flee the scene, but was later detained by the police in Stara Zagora. On 8 October 2015, he was taken to the border police department in Svilengrad.

During the investigation, authorities established that the migrants were transported in the freezer compartment with the cooling installation turned on to conceal the presence of people in the truck.

The migrants have been accommodated at refugee centres across the country.

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