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The Bulgarian mafia ( bg, мафия) is a series of
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
elements originating from
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
.


Organized crime groups and activities

Modern organized crime is associated with the early 1990s, when weak power and continuous change of governments during Bulgaria's transition to democracy created conditions for economic and power groups to flourish. Bulgarian
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
groups are involved in a wide range of activities, including
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...
,
cigarette smuggling The illicit cigarette trade is defined as “the production, import, export, purchase, sale, or possession of tobacco goods which fail to comply with legislation” (FATF 2012). Illicit cigarette trade activities fall under 3 categories: # Con ...
,
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...
,
prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
,
illicit antiquities The antiquities trade is the exchange of antiquities and archaeological artifacts from around the world. This trade may be illicit or completely legal. The legal antiquities trade abides by national regulations, allowing for extraction of artifact ...
trafficking,
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
(often under the cover of ostensible
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
and
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
companies), racketeering, various financial crimes, car theft and the arms trade. Bulgarian
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
groups mainly use security and insurance companies such as SIC and VIS as fronts for criminal activities. In 2020, the Italian police, together with the Bulgarian police, dismantled a Bulgarian gang that operated mainly in the Italian region of
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
, 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. 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 The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...
. 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 Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The ...
and alien smuggling.


Contract killings

Since the fall of communism in 1989, there have been more than 150 high rank heads mafia-style
contract killing Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
s in Bulgaria, frequently perpetrated in the centre of the capital,
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, in broad daylight. There has been at most 1 conviction in these cases to date, though sources differ. 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 the more expensive one worth. Some of the most prominent assassination targets of recent years (in chronological order): *
Vasil Iliev Vasil Iliev ( bg, Васил Илиев; January 22, 1965 – April 25, 1995) was a Bulgarian mobster, businessman and wrestler. Background Vasil Iliev was born in 1965 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. He was a very successful wrestler, becoming a nati ...
- Founder of
VIS1 VIS1 (viral integration site 1), also known as HIS-1, is a long non-coding RNA. It was originally identified in mice in a screen for genes involved in the development of myeloid leukemia. In murine The Old World rats and mice, part of the ...
and VIS2. Ambushed by an unknown killer on his way to Club "Mirage" on 25 April 1995. *
Andrey Lukanov Andrey Karlov Lukanov ( ) (26 September 1938 – 2 October 1996) was a Bulgarian politician. Between February and November 1990, was the final Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. Biography Early life Lukanov was born in Moscow, ...
- former Bulgarian prime minister (1990). Killed on 2 October 1996. *
Ivo Karamanski Ivo Karamanski ( bg, Иво Карамански) (November 29, 1959 in Sofia, Bulgaria – December 20, 1998) was a reputed Bulgarian mobster. His life was difficult from the very beginning with his mother dying when he was only four years old. In ...
, a.k.a. "The Godfather" - Shot by a drunk acquaintance at a birthday party in
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
on 20 December 1998. * Pantyu Pantev, a.k.a. "Polly" - Drug smuggler, initially affiliated with VIS, later with SIC. He was rumoured to have stolen half a ton of cocaine from the Russian or Colombian mafia. Several assassination attempts, including one with a
missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...
, all attempts for different reasons from different rivals. He was shot dead on the Caribbean island of
Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of P ...
on 9 March 2001. * Iliya Pavlov - Founder of Multigroup and the wealthiest individual in Bulgaria. There is no official evidence for criminal activities but he was widely considered to be one of the bosses of the mafia. Former employees claim that he was involved in a
prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
ring. He was shot dead in front of his office in Sofia on 3 July 2003 (a failed assassination attempt had been made in 1997). * Konstantin "Samokovetsa" Dimitrov - Drug smuggler and billionaire, connected with VIS. Shot dead in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
on 7 December 2003. * Dimitar Hristov, a.k.a. Mitko the Little One - Shot dead on 4 June 2004 in a cafe together with his bodyguards Kaloyan Savov and Zhivko Mitev by two hitmen disguised as
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
priests. * Milcho Bonev, a.k.a. "Baj Mile" - One of the founders of SIC. He was believed to be an important link in the drug trafficking and distribution network in the Balkans, and was investigated by Bulgarian and Serbian special services. He had survived an earlier assassination attempt in September 2001. Bonev was shot dead in broad daylight in a garden-restaurant in Sofia on 20 July 2004 together with five of his bodyguards. * Georgi Iliev - Brother of
Vasil Iliev Vasil Iliev ( bg, Васил Илиев; January 22, 1965 – April 25, 1995) was a Bulgarian mobster, businessman and wrestler. Background Vasil Iliev was born in 1965 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. He was a very successful wrestler, becoming a nati ...
and head of VIS2. Shot dead in front of his club at Sunny Beach, Bulgaria on 25 August 2005. * Emil Kyulev - Former elite swimmer and
banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...
, connected with SIC. Shot dead while driving down Boulevard Bulgaria in Sofia on 26 October 2005. * Anton Miltenov, a.k.a. "The Beak" - Drug smuggler, right-hand man of Konstantin "Samokovetsa" Dimitrov. Shot dead in a popular cafe in the centre of Sofia on 30 October 2005 (together with his co-workers Ivan "The Ghost" Todorov and Nikolay "The Eyeglasses" Dobrev). An earlier attempt on his life had been made on 28 June 2002. * Ivan Todorov, a.k.a. "The Doctor" - Drug smuggler. Shot dead on 22 February 2006. He had survived a previous assassination attempt on 18 April 2003 in which his Mercedes was blown up while driving down a main boulevard in Sofia. *
Georgi Stoev Georgi Stoev ( bg, Георги Стоев; September 26, 1973 – April 7, 2008, Sofia) was a Bulgarian writer and former Bulgarian mafia mobster. Biography As a teenager he trained to be a wrestler and attended "Olympic Hopes" school in S ...
- Former wrestler, connected with VIS and SIC. Had written nine books about Bulgaria's mafia bosses, many of whom he claimed to know personally. Shot dead in
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
on 7 April 2008. * Zlatko Baretata (The Berret) - Notorious Bulgarian mobster. He suffered an assassination attempt on the stairs of the
Sofia Court House The Sofia Court House ( bg, Съдебна палата, ''Sadebna palata,'' literally Palace of Justice) is a building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, accommodating several courts in the city. Stylistically a simplistic yet monumental struc ...
in Downtown Sofia on 29-January 2013. Despite being shot multiple times, he survived the attack.


Other mafia-related assassinations

* Georgi Kalapatirov - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team
Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park a ...
, shot dead in 1995. * Georgi Prodanov - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, shot dead in 1995. * Petar Petrov - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, shot dead in 1998. * Nikolai Popov - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, shot dead in 2005. * Alexander Tasev - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, shot dead in May 2007. * Yanko Yankov - Mayor of
Elin Pelin Elin Pelin ( bg, Елин Пелин ) (8 July 1877 – 3 December 1949), born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Стоянов) is considered Bulgaria’s best narrator of the Bulgarian (Balkan) countryside and village. ...
, shot dead in January 2007. * Dimitar Yankov - Chairman of the Municipality Council of the seaside town of
Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative cen ...
, shot dead in May 2007. * Manol Velev - Bulgarian notorious businessman-mobster with close links with the BSP. Murder attempt on 6 November2007. * Borislav Georgiev - Director of AtomEnergoRemont, one of the major Bulgarian energy companies. Shot dead in April 2008. * Petar Lupov - Prominent lawyer, involved in the defense team for a group of shareholders of the former Trakya Bank against DZI Bank. Shot dead on 25 March 2009 in
Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
. * Bobi Tsankov - Controversial investigative journalist, criminal writer, radio and TV host. Shot dead in downtown
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, January 2010.


Australia

*
Nik Radev Nikolai Radev ( bg, Николай "Ник" Радев; 29 January 1959 – 15 April 2003), nicknamed The Russian, was a Bulgarian career criminal and mobster who was involved in crime in Melbourne, Australia. Biography During his life he was ...
-
Russian mafia Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) ...
enforcer


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. 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 Rumen Petkov ( bg, Румен Петков; 26 January 1948 – 10 June 2018) was a Bulgarian animator, painter and comic creator. He is best remembered for his animated series ''Choko the Stork and Boko the Frog'', which he also adapted into a c ...
described the findings as exaggerated and protested against Jansen's way of presenting the situation in Bulgaria which, in his words, demonstrated his incompetence. 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. List of Prosecutor Generals in Bulgaria post-1989: * Ivan Geshev - in office since 18 December 2019 *
Sotir Tsatsarov Sotir Stefanov Tsatsarov ( bg, Сотир Стефанов Цацаров) (born 28 September 1966) is a Bulgarian jurist who served as the chief prosecutor of Bulgaria from December 2012 until December 2019. Tsatsarov allegedly owes his appointme ...
* Boris Velchev * Nikola Filchev * Ivan Tatarchev * Martin Gounev


History

:''See also'': '' History of Bulgaria since 1989'' Much of the
post-Communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...
Bulgarian mafia originates from the professional
sportsmen An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...
and especially the
wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...
s 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").Залязват ли мутрите, или облакът е тъмен. Йово НИКОЛОВ. В-к Капитал. Брой 35, 03 септември 2005, 00:00 In post-1990 Bulgaria, the word борец ("wrestler") came to denote a mafia man (a common
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...
is мутра (mutra), literally "mug, or mean mug"). The image of the Bulgarian "mug", including a sturdy muscular build, a black suit,
sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...
, a shaved head, and
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
en
jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry ( U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a w ...
, 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. The wrestlers came to control much of Bulgarian
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...
, 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 The Bulgarian Socialist Party ( bg, Българска социалистическа партия, translit=Balgarska sotsialisticheska partiya, BSP), also known as The Centenarian ( bg, Столетницата, links=no, translit=Stoletnitsat ...
and the Union of Democratic Forces, respectively). 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 Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...
, trade and
privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
. During the government of
National Movement Simeon II The National Movement for Stability and Progress ( bg, Национално движение за стабилност и възход, translit=Natsionalno dvizhenie za stabilnost i vazhod, NDSV) is a liberal, populist political party in Bulgari ...
(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 A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...
Ivan Tatarchev allegedly recreated together with
Ivo Karamanski Ivo Karamanski ( bg, Иво Карамански) (November 29, 1959 in Sofia, Bulgaria – December 20, 1998) was a reputed Bulgarian mobster. His life was difficult from the very beginning with his mother dying when he was only four years old. In ...
, NMS-II
finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
Milen Velchev was photographed playing cards with Ivan "The Doctor" Todorov, and BSP
interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Rumen Petkov Rumen Petkov ( bg, Румен Петков; 26 January 1948 – 10 June 2018) was a Bulgarian animator, painter and comic creator. He is best remembered for his animated series ''Choko the Stork and Boko the Frog'', which he also adapted into a c ...
negotiated with the shadowy " Galev brothers".


See also

* Multigroup * Naglite * VIS General: * Crime in Bulgaria


References


WikiLeaks Cables - Bulgarian mafia
* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * Centre for the Study of Democracy (2003
''The Drug Market In Bulgaria''
* Misha Glenny, ''The Rebirth Of History: Eastern Europe in the Age of Democracy'' (Penguin Books, 1990) * Misha Glenny, ''The Fall of Yugoslavia'' (Penguin Books, 1992) * Misha Glenny, ''The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, 1804-1999'' (Penguin Books, 1999) * Misha Glenny
''McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld''
(
The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...
in the UK and
Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers i ...
in the US, 2008)


External links

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