Source: Reuters Pubdate: 28 Oct 1997 Bulgarians admit role in Balkan route traficking By Liliana Semerdjieva SOFIA, Oct 28 (Reuters) Bulgaria, on a longestablished drugs smuggling route from the Middle East to Western Europe, said on Tuesday its own people were playing a supporting role to powerful narcotics traffickers. Interior Ministry chief secretary Bozhidar Popov said more than 1,600 Bulgarian citizens were involved in drug smuggling and 112 Bulgarian firms were used as ``covers'' for drug trafficking. The drug wave which swept Europe in the 1960's largely bypassed Bulgaria, then ruled by a hardline communist regime, toppled in 1989. ``In the last few years Bulgarian citizens and (Bulgarian) criminal groups are getting involved in drugs trafficking,'' Popov told a news conference. ``At the beginning they were functioning only as a security to drug traffickers' channels while now there are organised groups setting up channels for drug trafficking in Bulgaria,'' he said, adding that the Bulgarian groups had been controlled by powerful international criminal groups. Turkish, Iranian, Arab, Nigerian and recently South African groups operate on the classical Balkan route, setting up facilities for storage and redistribution of drugs mainly to western Europe, Popov said. Apart from Bulgarians, more than 1,000 Turks staying in Bulgaria had been under surveillance for participating in illegal drug trafficking, along with some 100 ethnic Albanians, some 100 immigrants from Arab countries, Iranians, Italians, Nigerians, Romanians, Greeks and South Africans. Popov said selling of drugs had also flourished in the last two or three years, spreading to smaller towns. Most of the dealers had been Bulgarians. The ministry predicted increasing use and trade of narcotics in Bulgaria. ``Competition will become more fierce and conflicts such as shootings and killings will breach public order,'' Popov said. Bulgaria has seized far more drugs this year than during the same period last year, Popov said, declining to elaborate. Bulgaria seized 14.4 tonnes (31,752 lb) of drugs in 1996, including 195.5 kg (431 lb) of heroin. Officials say it is impossible to tell how much slips through the net.