The Plovdiv District Court convicted three foreigners who organised the trafficking of illegal migrants through Bulgarian territory. The penalties are monetary, as the cars used to transport refugees are not their property.

The first convicted is a 32-year-old Turkish citizen, caught on 13 August near the 152 km of the Trakia motorway, in the land of the village of. Belozem, transporting 23 foreigners who posed as Afghans. They were loaded in a Scania truck with a semi-trailer. The Turk also received a suspended sentence of 2 years and 10 months in prison with a 5-year probation period and a 5,000 leva fine. The penalty for the truck he used is BGN 96 160.

The other convicted foreigner is a 40-year-old from Azerbaijan, caught ten days later also on the Trakia motorway near the village of. He was arrested on the Trakia road, Trod, region. Plovdiv. He was transporting three migrants in the car - a Syrian, a Palestinian and a Yemeni citizen. The sentence for him is a year and a half suspended, and the fine for the used car - "Peugeot", is estimated at market value of 40 700 leva.

The third trafficker is a 20-year-old from Moldova, caught on 14 August again on the highway near the village of. Shishmantsi, smuggling six Syrians into the country. They were all caught in a light Audi car. The punishment for the young Moldovan smuggler is almost 2 years of suspended imprisonment, a 2500 leva administrative fine and an additional penalty of 3474 leva for the used car. / BGNES