An organized cable theft group, operating in Germany and causing damage of over a million euros, was detained in the international operation under the auspices of Europol and Eurojust, the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Varna announced.
The group operated in three German provinces, stealing power cables from German railways, cables from various construction sites and warehouses.
District Prosecutor's Office – Varna is leading actions under three European investigation orders issued by the prosecutor's office in Germany, in connection with the activities of the criminal group, the majority of whose members are Bulgarian citizens.
Yesterday (December 17), simultaneous actions were carried out on the territories of the two countries to search private properties and cars, seize material evidence relevant to the criminal activity, and search individuals.
The international operation on the Bulgarian side involves two prosecutors and ten investigators from the District Prosecutor's Office - Varna, an investigator from the District Prosecutor's Office - Shumen, 83 employees of the Main Directorate "National Police", the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Varna and the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Shumen.
A total of 24 addresses, 6 cars, and 9 individuals were searched on the territory of Bulgaria. Five men have been detained for whom European arrest warrants have been issued by the German authorities. Three people have been detained in Germany. Numerous mobile phones, SIM cards, documents and other items and objects relevant to the investigation have been seized.
By decrees of the supervising prosecutors, the five have been detained for up to 72 hours. In compliance with the legal provisions, translations of the European arrest warrants into Bulgarian are expected. After that, the District Prosecutor's Office - Varna and the District Prosecutor's Office - Shumen will submit requests to the competent courts for the imposition of a preventive measure of "detention in custody" until the defendants are handed over to the authorities in Germany.