Bulgarian Authorities Have Detained 27 000 Illegal Migrants Since Start of Year

Since the beginning of the year, Bulgarian authorities have detained 27 000 foreign citizens, who had crossed into the country illegally.

This was announced by Chief Secretary of the Interior Ministry Georgi Kostov in an interview for private NOVA TV station on Monday.

Bulgarian authorities have no information that any of the perpetrators of the Friday's attacks in Paris had passed through Bulgaria.

A joint operation of the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for National Security (DANS) has been held across the country with more than 350 illegal migrants already detained.

The operation against illegal migration started on Saturday as part of the heightened security measures after the recent attacks in Paris.

More than 7000 people and 3000 vehicles were checked over the weekend, with eleven Bulgarians accused of human smuggling.

Most of the detained foreigners had initially identified themselves as citizens of Syria and Iraq, but following police checks it was established that they were mainly nationals of Afghanistan and Pakistan.