Bulgarian Authorities Detain 39 Migrants, Five Smugglers Near Border with Serbia

Bulgarian border police officers detained on Wednesday a total of 39 illegal migrants in the area of responsibility of the border police department in Kalotina.

The authorities also detained five Bulgarian citizens who were driving the vehicles in which the foreigners were transported.

The migrants were uncovered after the authorities stopped five vehicles for inspection, the press service of the interior ministry informs.

The five Bulgarian drivers have been detained for 72 hours on suspicions that they were to be paid EUR 30 for each migrant transported to the border with Serbia.

None of the migrants was in the possession of identity documents and all of them claimed to come from Afghanistan.

In the process of the investigation, authorities established that the migrants had intention to illegally cross from Bulgaria into Serbia.