Bulgarian mafia
| Territory |
Bulgaria Balkans Eastern Europe |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Bulgarians |
| Criminal activities | Arms trafficking, Drug trafficking, Money laundering, arson, Assault, counterfeiting, Extortion, Fraud, Human trafficking, illegal gambling, Kidnapping, Murder, prostitution, Racketeering, Theft. |
The Bulgarian mafia (Bulgarian: мутри, mutri) is a series of organized crime elements originating from Bulgaria.
Bulgarian organized crime groups are involved in a wide range of activities, including drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, illicit antiquities trafficking, extortion (often under the cover of ostensible security and insurance companies), racketeering, various financial crimes, car theft and the arms trade. They appear to have connections with the Russian Mafia, Serbian Mafia, and the Italian Cosa Nostra. Bulgarian organized crime groups mainly use security and insurance companies such as SIC and VIS as fronts for criminal activities.
The organized crime (OC) groups is arguably the most serious problem in the country. OC groups range from local street extorters to international drug dealers and money launderers. There were an estimated 118 organized crime groups in Bulgaria in 2004. Not a single major OC figure has been punished by the Bulgarian law, though there are nominal on-going series of OC-related assassinations. The criminal wealth is usually laundered into ownership of sports teams, property developments and financial institutions. Organized crime influence all state institutions, including the government, parliament and judiciary, organized criminals donate to all the major political parties, they "own" municipalities and individual members of parliament, controlling municipal councils and mayors. Bulgarian governments have done little to reduce the presence of organized crime, despite domestic efforts and U.S. and EU pressure to combat it. According to a former United States Ambassador to Bulgaria, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has links with the mafia. According to Jürgen Roth, Borisov is the Bulgarian Al Capone.
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Wikipedia