The General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) has busted a fentanyl laboratory that was supplying the entire country. The Directorate told BTA that the laboratory was located in Sofia’s Filipovtsi residential district.
“Today we shut down a fentanyl production laboratory. The main producers have been detained, charges are to be brought, and further arrests are forthcoming,” Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said in a post on Facebook.
Demerdzhiev said the laboratory was highly technologically advanced and that the operation was being carried out under strict safety measures because of the danger posed by the fumes.
“Every such operation means fewer drugs on the streets and greater safety for our children,” the Minister wrote, adding that the fight against drug trafficking would not be conducted through words and concepts, but through concrete action targeting producers and dealers.
Demerdzhiev congratulated GDCOC on the operation and said that the full power of the State would be directed against drug traffickers. “These are the clear instructions of Prime Minister Rumen Radev,” the Interior Minister added.
Acting Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov said at a briefing later on Tuesday that all of the fentanyl distributed in Bulgaria had originated from this facility. If the information is confirmed, there should be a shortage of the substance in the country starting Wednesday, he added.
According to Nikolov, no quantities of fentanyl entering or leaving the country had been intercepted. He said he hoped that there was no other laboratory producing the substance.
Three people have been detained after attempting to leave the scene in a car, Nikolov said. They are aged between 42 and 53 and have criminal records, with police records linking them to drug-related offences. Another four people were detained elsewhere in the country as part of the operation, he added.
The group had operated very discreetly and had an extensive network of dealers, Nikolov said. Those involved in the production had not displayed a high standard of living. All individuals in the distribution chain who supplied the drug to the end-user level have been identified, he added.
The facility contained precursors and finished fentanyl. Between 6 and 10 kilograms of fentanyl were produced there per day, according to Nikolov.
Work on the case began in April, the Acting Interior Ministry Secretary General said.
“According to our information, one of the people involved in the production learned how to make fentanyl through internet applications,” Nikolov said.
Regarding the property housing the facility, Nikolov said that according to the cadastral map, it is owned by Sofia Municipality. There are also documents concerning the leasing of premises at the site, but further work is needed on the matter, he said.
