Bulgaria's General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) has dismantled a fentanyl laboratory that police say supplied the entire country. The directorate told the Bulgarian News Agency BTA that the lab was located in the Filipovtsi suburb of Sofia.
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev announced the raid in a Facebook post, saying that a fentanyl production laboratory had been closed that day, that the main producers had been arrested, that charges would be filed and that further arrests were imminent.
Demerdzhiev said the lab had advanced, high-tech equipment and that the operation was carried out under strict security measures because of the risk posed by fumes.
He wrote that every operation of this kind means fewer drugs on the streets and greater safety for children, and added that the fight against drug trafficking must involve targeted action against producers and dealers. Demerdzhiev congratulated the GDCOC for the operation and said the full power of the state would now be turned against drug traffickers, describing this as the explicit instruction of Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
Officials warn of a coming shortage
Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov told a press briefing that all of the fentanyl distributed in Bulgaria had come from this laboratory. If that information is confirmed, he said, the country should see a shortage of the substance starting the next day, Wednesday.
Nikolov said no quantity of fentanyl imported into or exported from the country had been seized. He said he hoped there was no other laboratory producing the drug.
Three arrested fleeing the scene
Three people, aged 42 and 53, with existing criminal records, were arrested after they tried to leave the site by car. Police records link them to drug-related offenses. Four more people were arrested elsewhere in the country as part of the same operation.
Nikolov said the group operated under extreme secrecy and had an extensive network of dealers. Those involved in production did not display a high standard of living, he said. Authorities have identified everyone involved in the distribution chain that supplied the drug to end users.
Six to ten kilograms a day
The facility contained precursor chemicals and finished fentanyl. Nikolov said the lab produced between 6 and 10 kilograms of fentanyl a day.
Authorities have been working on the case since April. Nikolov said that, according to their information, one of the people involved in production learned how to make fentanyl through applications found online.
Ownership of the property unclear
Asked about the owner of the facility, Nikolov said that according to the cadastral map, the property belongs to the Municipality of Sofia. He said documents also exist relating to the lease of the premises, but that further investigation is required.
