Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Operation Hawala launched against migrant smugglers

Caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev
Photo: BGNES

An operation against illegal migration is taking place on the entire territory of Bulgaria and in neighbouring Tutkey, caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev has announced. The operation dubbed Hawala will span several days. “Hawala” is an informal money transfer system used by people smugglers to guarantee the sum before the transfer of the “goods” via an illegal ring. The money is only paid out after the migrants’ arrival at their final destination.

Organizers of trafficking rings from North Africa, the Middle East and Asia along the so-called Balkan Route have been detained, as have migrants at illegal safe houses. Drivers were apprehended after a car chase near Yambol, as well as two traffickers from Georgia. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Weather forecast: Sunny weather, fog in some parts

During the night, the weather will be predominantly clear and calm. There will be fog or low clouds before midday in parts of the lowlands, valleys and around water basins. Minimum temperatures minus 4-1° C., for Sofia around minus 2° C. On..

published on 11/25/24 6:15 PM

Ursula von der Leyen mentions Bulgarian girl Debora on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Bulgarian Debora Mihaylova , who was brutally slashed with a mock knife by her boyfriend Georgi Georgiev , is one of the victims of violence mentioned by Ursula von der Leyen in her address on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of..

published on 11/25/24 5:09 PM
Rositsa Stelyanova

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association demands a 3% increase in vocational classes

In a letter to Minister of Education Galin Tsokov, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association expresses concern over the state plan for admissions for the 2025-2026 academic year, in which the number of vocational classes in schools are being..

published on 11/25/24 4:29 PM