Bulgarian Authorities Detained 243 Human Traffickers in First Half of Year

In the first half of the year, Bulgarian authorities detained 243 people suspected in human trafficking over the country's borders.

This is shows by statistics of the Interior Ministry, which were released on Tuesday.

A total of  84 of the detained people were Bulgarian citizens, while 159 were foreigners.

The ministry held 123 specialised police operations on uncovering illegally residing citizens of third countries in the same period.

Due to the heightened migratory pressure on the EU member states, a specialised operational headquarters under the authority of Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova is in operation.

The management of the interior ministry monitors the situation on a daily basis and analyses the trends.

Bulgaria is expanding its international operational cooperation with partner authorities of the EU member states, the international police organisations Interpol and Europol, and the EU Frontex agency

The ministry assured that counteracting human trafficking is a key priority of all EU member states in view of the heightened migratory pressure towards Europe.