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Interpol red list drug lord Brendo hiding in Bulgaria since 2022

Kalin Stoyanov announces the news from the parliamentary rostrum, 28 June 2024.
Photo: BTA

Infamous drug kingpin Brendo, on Interpol's red list since 2018, has been hiding in Bulgaria for two years. This was announced in Parliament by caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov. 

Evelin (Brendo) Banev, who turned himself in at Sofia Central Prison on Monday, entered Bulgaria in the spring of 2022. The fugitive returned to Bulgaria in a small plane that flew over several European countries, refuelling at an airport near Vidin and landing in the Targovishte region. 

He is wanted by Interpol for serving a final sentence of six years' imprisonment in Bulgaria for money laundering and drug trafficking, handed down in 2018. Brendo also has a final sentence of 10 years' imprisonment in Romania and a 20-year sentence in Italy. Brendo landed in Bulgaria when Boyko Rashkov was interior minister, said Stoyanov, who was then director of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime.



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