The
Bulgarian mafia is an informal term to describe any number of organized crime groups originating from
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
Organised crime groups and activities
Bulgarian organised crime groups are involved in a wide range of activities, including drug trafficking,
cigarette smugglingCigarette smuggling is the illicit transportation of cigarettes from an administrative division with low taxation to a division with high taxation for sale and consumption...
,
human traffickingHuman trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
,
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, illicit antiquities trafficking,
extortionExtortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
(often under the cover of ostensible
securityA security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
and
insuranceIn law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
companies) and the arms trade. They appear to have connections with the
Russian MafiaThe Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
,
Serbian MafiaSerbian Organized Crime or Naša Stvar are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the Serbian Diaspora. Serbian mafiosos are very active in European Union countries...
, and the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Cosa Nostra.
Living criminal figures
- Gen. Lyuben Gocev - Retired Secret Service general, allegedly connected with SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
. He is suspected of being the “eminence grise” of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party and its connection with the mafia. Gocev was a minister of foreign affairs in the 1990s.
- Krasimir Marinov, aka "Big Margin" - Co-founder of SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
- Nikolay Marinov, aka "Small Margin" - Co-founder of SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
- Mladen Mihalev, aka Madzho - Co-founder of SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
- Georgi Slavov, aka "The Head" - Son of Stoil Slavov and his successor.
- Ventsislav Stefanov - Co-founder of SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
- Rumen Nikolov
Rumen Nikolov is a Bulgarian sprint canoer who competed in the mid 1990s. He won a bronze medal in the C-4 500 m event at the 1995 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg.-References:**...
, aka "Pashata" - Co-founder of SICSecurity Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
- Vasil Bozhkov, aka "The Skull" - Billionaire and gambling mogul. While there is no evidence of criminal activities, he has connections with SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
mob bosses and is suspected of calling upon their services.
- Zlatomir Ivanov, aka "Zlatko Baretata" - Drug smuggler.
- Gueorguiev Zahariev
- Plamen Galev
- Angel Hristov
- Alexey Petrov
Aleksei Zinovyevich Petrov 1910, Koshki, Samara Governorate, Russian Empire – 9 May 1972, Kiev, Soviet Union) was a mathematician noted for his work on the classification of Einstein spaces, today called Petrov classification....
the current boss of VIS. Has connections with Boyko Borisov, the prime minister of Bulgaria.
- Georgi Stefanov aka "Gerata"- Director VIS1 and VIS2
Contract killings
Since the fall of communism in 1989, there have been more than 150 mafia-style contract killings in Bulgaria, frequently perpetrated in the centre of the capital,
SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, 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 approximately £20,000.
Some of the most prominent assassination targets of recent years (in chronological order):
- Vasil Iliev
Vasil Iliev was a Bulgarian mobster, businessman and wrestler.-Background:Vasil Iliev was born in 1965 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria...
- Founder of VIS1Vasil Iliev Security, or VIS, is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria thought to be a front for a criminal organisation dealing in extortion, car theft, drug trafficking and more. Set up in the early 1990s by Vasil Iliev. The company was declared illegal in 1994 but continued operating...
and VIS2. Ambushed by an unknown killer on his way to Club "Mirage" on 25 April 1995.
- Andrey Lukanov
Andrey Karlov Lukanov was a Bulgarian political figure.-Biography:Lukanov was born in Moscow, USSR, in the family of Karlo Lukanov, , a Bulgarian communist emigre....
- former bulgarian prime minister (1990). Killed on 2nd October 1996.
- Ivo Karamanski
Ivo Karamanski was a reputed Bulgarian mobster. His life started very difficultly with his mother dying when he was only four years old. In 1981 he became National and Balkan rowing champion. A colorful underworld character in the Bulgarian Mafia, he was reputed to be a killer "who never even shot...
, aka "The Godfather" - Shot by a drunk acquaintance in front of his house on 20 December 1998.
- Pantyu Pantev, aka "Polly" - Drug smuggler, initially affiliated with VIS
Vasil Iliev Security, or VIS, is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria thought to be a front for a criminal organisation dealing in extortion, car theft, drug trafficking and more. Set up in the early 1990s by Vasil Iliev. The company was declared illegal in 1994 but continued operating...
, later with SICSecurity Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
. He was rumoured to have stolen half a ton of cocaine from the RussianThe Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
or Colombian mafiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Several assassination attempts, including one with a missileThough a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
,all attempts for different reasons from different rivals . He was shot dead on the Caribbean island of ArubaAruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
on 9 March 2001.
- Iliya Pavlov
Iliya Pavlov Naydenov was a Bulgarian businessman. He was the leader and founder of the Multigroup organization, as well as of G-13....
- Founder of MultigroupMultigroup is a business conglomerate in Bulgaria mostly known for its alleged involvement in various scandals and organized crime. Its founder is the Bulgarian businessman Iliya Pavlov, who was its leader until his assassination on March 7, 2003...
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 prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
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 Dimitrov
Konstantin Stefanov Dimitrov is a Bulgarian politician and a Member of the European Parliament until 2007. Dimitrov is a member of the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria party, part of the European People's Party–European Democrats, and became an MEP on 1 January 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria...
, aka "Samokovetsa" - Drug smuggler and billionaire, connected with VISVasil Iliev Security, or VIS, is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria thought to be a front for a criminal organisation dealing in extortion, car theft, drug trafficking and more. Set up in the early 1990s by Vasil Iliev. The company was declared illegal in 1994 but continued operating...
. Shot dead in AmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
on 7 December 2003.
- Dimitar Hristov, aka 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 priests.
- Milcho Bonev, aka "Baj Mile" - One of the founders of SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
and closely associated with Mladen Mihalev, aka Madzho. 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
Georgi Andreev Iliev was a Bulgarian businessman, best known for his ownership of a top Bulgarian football team, Lokomotiv Plovdiv....
- Brother of Vasil IlievVasil Iliev was a Bulgarian mobster, businessman and wrestler.-Background:Vasil Iliev was born in 1965 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria...
and head of VIS2. Shot dead in front of his club at Sunny BeachSunny Beach is a major seaside resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, located approximately 35 km north of Burgas in Nessebar municipality, Burgas Province. It is the biggest and most popular holiday resort in Bulgaria, and is home to over 800 hotels with more than 300 000 beds. There are...
, Bulgaria on 25 August 2005.
- Emil Kyulev
Emil Kyulev was a Bulgarian banker, owner of DZI bank.Kyulev was the President of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Swimming Federation. Kyulev was a former elite swimmer and also a member of the BUL Junior’s National team excelling in breaststroke.As a banker, he was one of the richest men...
- Former elite swimmer and banker, connected with SICSecurity Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
. Shot dead while driving down Boulevard BulgariaBulgaria Boulevard is a boulevard and key thoroughfare connecting the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, with the southern neighbourhoods of the city and Boyana....
in Sofia on 26 October 2005.
- Anton Miltenov, aka "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
Ivan Todorov is a Bulgarian football defender, who currently plays for Vidima-Rakovski on loan from Slavia Sofia.-References:...
, aka "The Doctor" - Drug smuggler. Shot dead on 22 February 2006. He had survived a previous assassination attempt on 18 April 2003 in which his MercedesMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
was blown up while driving down the main boulevard of Sofia.
- Georgi Stoev
Georgi Stoev 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 Sofia. With the collapse of communism in 1989 the school was closed and the wrestlers formed a ruthless mafia which terrorized...
- 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 SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
on 7 April 2008.
Other mafia-related assassinations
- Georgi Kalapatirov - Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, 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.
- Georgi Iliev
Georgi Andreev Iliev was a Bulgarian businessman, best known for his ownership of a top Bulgarian football team, Lokomotiv Plovdiv....
- Chairman of Bulgaria's football team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, shot dead in August 2005.
- 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 , born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov is arguably considered Bulgaria’s best narrator of country life.Born into a large family in the village of Baylovo near Sofia, he loved writing and reading from an early age...
, shot dead in January 2007.
- Dimitar Yankov - Chairman of the Municipality Council of the seaside town of Nesebar
Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...
, shot dead in May 2007.
- Borislav Georgiev
Borislav Georgiev is a Bulgarian football player who currently plays for Etar 1924. He plays as a defender and defensive midfielder.Georgiev previously played for Kallithea F.C. and Levadiakos F.C. in the Greek Super League.-External links:...
- 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 is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...
.
- Bobi Tsankov - Controversial investigative journalist, criminal writer and scam artist. Shot dead in downtown Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, January 2010.
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 organised 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 organised 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 Roumen 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.
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:
- Boris Velchev - in office since 26 February 2006
- Nikola Filchev - employee of the state security services before 1989 (and allegedly of the KGB as well)
- General Ivan Tatarchev
- Martin Gounev
History
- see also History of Bulgaria since 1989
The reforms towards liberalization, both social, political and economic in the Eastern Block started with Gorbachev's reform program in the Soviet Union which was felt in Bulgaria in the late 1980s...
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 PavlovIliya Pavlov Naydenov was a Bulgarian businessman. He was the leader and founder of the Multigroup organization, as well as of G-13....
were all students of the school for future champions "Olympic Hopes" (Bulgarian: "Олимпийски надежди").
In post-1990 Bulgaria, the word борец ("wrestler") came to denote a mafia man (a common
synonymSynonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
is мутра (mutri), literally "mug"). The image of the Bulgarian "mug", including a sturdy physical build, a black suit,
sunglassesSunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
, a shaved head, and
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
en
jewelleryJewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
, became iconic for the so-called Bulgarian "transition" (
to market economyA transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a free market. Transition economies undergo economic liberalization, where market forces set prices rather than a central planning organization and trade barriers are removed,...
). They would also drive a car with a license plate with double numbers.
The mafia came to control much of Bulgarian
businessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, so the word "businessman" acquired similar undertones. The "mugs" also infiltrated Bulgarian politics (it was often alleged that
SICSecurity Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
and
VISVasil Iliev Security, or VIS, is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria thought to be a front for a criminal organisation dealing in extortion, car theft, drug trafficking and more. Set up in the early 1990s by Vasil Iliev. The company was declared illegal in 1994 but continued operating...
were connected to the two main parties of the 1990s, the
Bulgarian Socialist PartyThe Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
and the
Union of Democratic ForcesUnion of Democratic Forces or Union of the Democratic Forces is the name of:*Union of Democratic Forces *Union of Democratic Forces *Union of Democratic Forces *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
smugglingSmuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
, trade and
privatizationPrivatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
.
During the government of
National Movement Simeon IIThe National Movement for Stability and Progress or Nacionalno dviženie za stabilnost i văzhod), until 3 June 2007 known as the National Movement Simeon II , is a liberal political party in Bulgaria, the vehicle of Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski, the deposed Tsar of Bulgaria and former Prime...
(2001–2005), assassinations became especially common. There was also frequent evidence for the close ties between the criminal networks and politicians and officials. UDF
chief prosecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
Ivan Tatarchev allegedly recreated together with
Ivo KaramanskiIvo Karamanski was a reputed Bulgarian mobster. His life started very difficultly with his mother dying when he was only four years old. In 1981 he became National and Balkan rowing champion. A colorful underworld character in the Bulgarian Mafia, he was reputed to be a killer "who never even shot...
, NMS-II
finance ministerThe finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
Milen Velchev was photographed playing cards with Ivan "The Doctor" Todorov, and most recently BSP
interior ministerAn interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
Rumen Petkov negotiated with the shadowy "Galev brothers".
See also
- Multigroup
Multigroup is a business conglomerate in Bulgaria mostly known for its alleged involvement in various scandals and organized crime. Its founder is the Bulgarian businessman Iliya Pavlov, who was its leader until his assassination on March 7, 2003...
- VIS
Vasil Iliev Security, or VIS, is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria thought to be a front for a criminal organisation dealing in extortion, car theft, drug trafficking and more. Set up in the early 1990s by Vasil Iliev. The company was declared illegal in 1994 but continued operating...
- SIC
Security Insurance Company is a security and insurance company in Bulgaria. Thought to be a front for a criminal organisation....
General:
- Crime in Bulgaria
Crime in Bulgaria is combated by the Bulgarian police and other agencies.In 2006 the European Commission established goals for Bulgaria to improve it's fight against corruption and organised crime.- Human trafficking :...
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 has been used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books since 1987...
in the UK and Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
in the US, 2008)
External links