Nikola Nikolov - Pascal has been handed over to the Bulgarian authorities at the "Kalotina" border checkpoint, "Around the World and at Home" learned. This is exactly a year after Bulgaria requested his extradition from Serbia and the court and authorities in Belgrade approved our request.
After an examination at a metropolitan hospital, Pascal was escorted to the National Investigation Agency's detention center, as a prosecutor's order for his detention for up to 72 hours has been issued for him.
The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office is yet to decide whether to file a request with the court for permanent arrest.
According to sources of "Around the World and at Home" in the presence of Nikolov's lawyer, he was charged with participating in an organized criminal group for smuggling, money laundering and corruption.
It is alleged that the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Zhivko Kotsev, the former head of the "Customs" Agency Petya Bankova and father and son Marin and Stefan Dimitrov, who are said to be close to Pascal, are also involved.
The prosecutor's office claims at this stage that they have no information whether Nikola Nikolov has been handed over to the Bulgarian authorities.
The Ministry of Interior also does not provide information about the extradition.