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Bulgarian mafia

The Bulgarian mafia (Bulgarian: мафия) is a series of organized crime elements originating from Bulgaria.

Organized crime groups and activities

Bulgarian organised crime traces its roots to the 1960s, with import-export companies such as Kintex (owned by Bulgaria's secret police- the State Security agency) profiting from illegal export of weapons and other contraband goods such as amphetamines and cigarettes to terrorists and political groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Kintex's smuggling activities were covered in the Turkish press and first mentioned in CIA documents following the assassination attempt on pope John Paul II. During the late communist period, figures such as Illia Pavlov and Ismet Turkmen Shaban "The Big Fatik" were known to have conducted contraband activities and set up smuggling channels across Europe & the Middle East with the aid and protection of Bulgaria's state security. After the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria in 1989, it is presumed that the mobsters who dominated Bulgaria's business elites in the 1990s and beyond inherited the smuggling channels created by the former State Security and were in fact puppets of generals and high ranking former members of the secret services such as Lyuben Gotsev. The men "recruited" as direct overseers of Bulgaria's drug trafficking and contraband routes after 1989 were former wrestlers, security personel, special forces personel, policemen, low-ranking secret service members and others who were capable of and comfortable with keeping their status through violence. As such, the transition to a market economy in Bulgaria was marked by quick and vast wealth for some, but violence for most, with constant contract killings, clashes, and turf wars between rival crime elements competing for domination over not only Bulgaria's drug trade, but also most sectors and industries within Bulgaria's economy.[1]

In 2020, the Italian police, together with the Bulgarian police, dismantled a Bulgarian gang that operated mainly in the Italian region of Tuscany, but also in Bulgaria. The gang was specialized in theft, and was found responsible for more than 40 thefts in the time period between September 2018 and April 2020. According to the investigations the gang was a well-structured and organized criminal group.[2][3] Still, according to the Italian police, the Bulgarian mafia is among the most dangerous foreign criminal groups operating in Italy, and it was reported that they would be cooperating with the 'Ndrangheta.[4]

Drug trafficking organizations run by Bulgarian nationals have been investigated in across US, especially in Los Angeles and Tampa. These groups deal with the import of cocaine and multi-thousand doses of ecstasy into the United States. Most members of these were imprisoned in the U.S. There, Bulgarian nationals are identified for falsification of IDs, organized bank fraud, drug trafficking, mortgage fraud, pimping, money laundering, extortion, arms dealing, loan sharking, pornography credit card fraud and alien smuggling.[5]

Contract killings

Since the fall of communism in 1989, there have been more than 150 high rank heads mafia-style contract killings in Bulgaria, frequently perpetrated in the centre of the capital, Sofia, in broad daylight. There has been at most 1 conviction[6] in these cases to date, though sources differ.[7][8] This is frequently blamed on the alleged widespread corruption at all levels of the Bulgarian judicial system including the Prosecutor's Office.

The cost of contract killings carried out by highly professional snipers has been estimated at £5,000-£50,000. The more important one's worth's considered, the more expensive the contract.[6]

Some of the most prominent assassination targets of recent years (in chronological order):

Other mafia-related assassinations

Australia

Judicial prosecution and fight against criminal networks

In 2006, the EU dispatched the head of Germany's criminal investigation office Klaus Jansen to assess Bulgaria's progress in fighting organized crime. He concluded that Bulgaria had failed to implement modern principles and methods in the fight against crime, criticising among other things the low commitment of the country's police force to combat organized crime.[19][20][21] The report further observed that "indictments, prosecutions, trials, convictions and deterrent sentences remain rare in the fight against high-level corruption" and described efforts to fight crime as "a total mess". Jensen also suggested that European police information passed to Sofia could end up with criminals. In a reaction to the report, Interior Minister Rumen Petkov described the findings as exaggerated and protested against Jansen's way of presenting the situation in Bulgaria which, in his words, demonstrated his incompetence.[22]

In the Bulgarian judicial system, the Prosecutor General is elected by a qualified majority of two-thirds from all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and is appointed by the President of the Republic. The Supreme Judicial Council is in charge of the self-administration and organisation of the Judiciary.[23]

List of Prosecutor Generals in Bulgaria post-1989:

History

See also: History of Bulgaria since 1989

Much of the post-Communist Bulgarian mafia originates from the professional sportsmen and especially the wrestlers of the Communist period (1944–1989). The Iliev brothers, Krasimir "Big Margin" Marinov and Iliya Pavlov were all students of the school for future champions "Olympic Hopes" (Bulgarian: "Олимпийски надежди").[24]

In post-1990 Bulgaria, the word борец ("wrestler") came to denote a mafia man (a common synonym is мутра (mutra),[25] literally "mug, or mean mug"). The image of the Bulgarian "mug", including a sturdy muscular build, a black suit, sunglasses, a shaved head, and golden jewellery, became synonymous with the so-called Bulgarian "transition" (to market economy). These wrestlers were also known to own expensive cars with license plates with double numbers so that strangers would recognize their status as elite criminals.[26]

The wrestlers came to control much of Bulgarian business, so the word "businessman" acquired similar undertones. The wrestlers also infiltrated Bulgarian politics (it was often alleged that SIC and VIS were connected to the two main parties of the 1990s, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Union of Democratic Forces, respectively).[24] As the UDF government (1997–2001) made the registration of the criminal insurance businesses more difficult, much of their networks and personnel were integrated into existing legal insurance firms, while at the same time the principal bosses moved the focus of their attention to smuggling, trade and privatization.[26]

During the government of National Movement Simeon II (2001–2005), assassinations became especially common. Throughout the Post-Communist period, evidence has often surfaced to show the close ties between the criminal networks and politicians and officials. UDF chief prosecutor Ivan Tatarchev allegedly recreated together with Ivo Karamanski, NMS-II finance minister Milen Velchev was photographed playing cards with Ivan "The Doctor" Todorov, and BSP interior minister Rumen Petkov negotiated with the shadowy "Galev brothers".

See also

General:

References

  1. ^ Златков, Димитър (2007). Смъртта на големите босове (in Bulgarian).
  2. ^ Nazione, La (June 17, 2020). "Sgominata la gang bulgara autrice di 40 furti nei capannoni in tutta Italia / VIDEO". La Nazione (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  3. ^ news.bg (2020-06-17). "Разбиха българска банда, крала строителна техника в Италия". News.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  4. ^ "Dalla Bulgaria a Foggia: la mafia delle "brutte facce" che gestisce il caporalato | Il Tacco d'Italia". www.iltaccoditalia.info (in Italian). 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. ^ "US embassy cables: Organised crime in Bulgaria". the Guardian. December 2010.
  6. ^ a b Watt, Nicholas (May 15, 2006). "Corruption still dogs Bulgaria on eve of ruling on membership". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  7. ^ "EU warns Bulgaria after killings". BBC News. April 8, 2008.
  8. ^ Shields, Rachel (April 9, 2008). "Murders prompt EU warning for Bulgaria over organised crime". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  9. ^ "SIC transit gloria". Capital. March 17, 2001. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  10. ^ "Bulgarian Mobster Suspect Widow Testifies in Court". Sofia News Agency. October 31, 2007.
  11. ^ "Bulgarian Mobster Murder Trial in Court Again". Sofia News Agency. July 13, 2007.
  12. ^ "Emil Kyulev: Who Was He?". FOCUS News Agency. October 26, 2005.
  13. ^ "Police Release Picture of Bulgaria's Top Banker Suspect Killer". Sofia News Agency. October 26, 2005.
  14. ^ "Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Georgi Stoev's Gangster Pulp". The Nation. April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  15. ^ [1] Archived March 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Typical News from Bulgaria". 11 May 2007.
  17. ^ "Prominent Veliko Tarnovo Lawyer Shot in Broad Daylight". Sofia News Agency. March 25, 2009.
  18. ^ "Bobi Tsankov was killed in a shooting in the Sofia centre". Dnevnik. January 5, 2010.
  19. ^ Smith, Nicola (May 21, 2006). "Bulgarian mafia turf wars to hit EU". The Times Online. London. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  20. ^ "Es wird Kämpfe geben". Der Spiegel. June 26, 2006.
  21. ^ "Bush's Bulgarian Partner in the Terror War Has Mob History, Investigators Say". Congressional Quarterly. March 2, 2007. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009.
  22. ^ "Anti-crime fight problems hinder Bulgaria's EU accession - Jansen". The Sofia Echo. June 26, 2006.
  23. ^ "Structure of the Prosecutor's Office in the Republic of Bulgaria". Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  24. ^ a b Залязват ли мутрите, или облакът е тъмен. Йово НИКОЛОВ. В-к Капитал. Брой 35, 03 септември 2005, 00:00
  25. ^ Bilefsky, Dan (January 31, 2010). "A Crime Writer's Pages Come to Life in His Death". New York Times. pp. A8. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  26. ^ a b "History of the Mutri". www.capital.bg. Retrieved 2008-06-03.

Further reading

External links

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