Bulgarian mafia

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The Bulgarian mafia is an informal term to describe any number of organized crime groups originating from Bulgaria.

Contents

[edit] Activities

Bulgarian OC groups are involved in a wide range of activities, including drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, extortion (often under the cover of ostensible security and insurance companies) and the arms trade. They appear to have connections with the Russian Mafiya, Serbian Mafia and the Italian Cosa Nostra.

[edit] Criminal figures

  • Krasimir "Big Margin" Marinov - boss of SIC
  • Nikolay "Small Margin" Marinov- boss of SIC
  • Mladen "Madzho" Mihalev - boss of SIC
  • General Lyuben Gocev- Allegedly connected with SIC
  • Vasil "The Skull" Bozhkov - Billionaire and gambling mogul. While there is no evidence of criminal activities, he has connections with SIC mob bosses and is suspected of calling upon their services.


[edit] Dead underworld figures

Assassinations are a very common occurrence among Bulgarian mafia figures and are frequently perpetrated even in the central part of the capital, Sofia. More than 150 killings have taken place since 2000. The murders are practically never solved by the police.[1] The general public often isn't informed about the existence and prominence (and the often amusing alias) of a particular mafia figure until he is assassinated or at least an attempt at his life is made. However, most of the bosses in the following list were significant enough to be well-known even before they were killed:

  • Vasil Iliev - boss and founder of VIS1 and VIS2 (criminal organisations). Ambushed by an unknown killer on his way to Club "Mirage" on 04.25.1995.
  • Ivo Karamanski "The Godfather" - also called "Capo di tutti Capi" of the underworld in Bulgaria. Shot by a drunk acquaintance in front of his house on 12.20.1998.
  • Pantyu "Polly" Pantev - drug smuggler, initially affiliated with VIS, later with SIC. He was rumoured to have stolen half a ton of cocaine from the Russian or Columbian mafia. Several assassination attempts, including one with a missile[2], caused him to leave the country and go into hiding, until he was eventually shot on the isle of Aruba on 09.03.2001.
  • Konstantin "Samokovetsa" Dimitrov - drug and cigarette smuggler billionare, connected with VIS. Shot in Amsterdam on 06.12.2003.
  • Ivan "The Doctor" Todorov - drug smuggler and billionare. Shot with 15 bullets on 22.02.2006. He had survived another assassination attempt as his Mercedes was blown up on 18.04.2003.
  • Iliya Pavlov- billionare founder of Multigroup - there is no official evidence for criminal activities, but he was widely considered to be one of the bosses of the mafia, as well as being the richest man in Bulgaria. Former employees claim that he was involved in a prostitution ring. He was shot dead in the heart with a Magnum 22 in front of his office in Sofia on 03.07.2003 (an unsuccessul assassination attempt had been made in 1997).
  • Georgi Iliev - the brother of Vasil Iliev and successor of his criminal organisation VIS2. Shot dead in the heart in front of his club in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria on 25.08.2005
  • Emil Kyulev - banker, connected with SIC. Shot on 26.10.2005
  • Anton "The Beak" Miltenov - drug smuggler, the "Samokovetsa"'s right-hand man. He gained public exposure thanks to Interior Ministry Secretary General Boyko Borisov, who officially declared him "Samokovetsa"'s successor in the media. However, Miltenov soon lost most of his power to other bosses. This was due in part to a prolonged arrest in a trial for inciting perjury, which eventually ended in a suspended sentence. "The Beak" was shot in a popular ice-cream cafe in the centre of Sofia on 30.10.2005 (together with his co-workers Ivan "The Ghost" Todorov and Nikolay "The Eyeglasses" Dobrev). An earlier attempt on his life had been made on 28.6.2002.

The assassination of Dimitar Hristov, aka Mitko the Little One, and his bodyguards (04.06.2004) was noted not so much for its significance as for its originality, as the two hitmen entered the cafe disguised as Eastern Orthodox priests and opened fire.

[edit] Australia

[edit] History

Much of the post-Communist Bulgarian mafia originates from the professional sportsmen and especially the wrestlers of Communist period (1944-1989). For example, the Iliev brothers, Big Margin and Iliya Pavlov were all students of the school for future champions "Olympic Hopes" (Bulgarian: "Олимпийски надежди")[3]. Indeed, the Bulgarian word борец ("wrestler") came to denote a mafia man (a common synonym is мутра, literally "mug"). The image of the Bulgarian "mug", including a sturdy physical build, a black suit, sunglasses, a shaved head, and golden jewellery, became iconic for the so-called Bulgarian "Transition" (to market economy). [2] The mafia came to control much of Bulgarian business, so the word "businessman" acquired similar undertones. The "mugs" also infiltrated Bulgarian politics (it was often alleged that SIC and VIS were connected to the two main parties of the 1990s, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Union of Democratic Forces, respectively).[4] As the UDF government (1997-2001) made the registration of the criminal insurance businesses more difficult, much of their networks and personnel were integrated into existing legal insurance firms, while at the same time the principal bosses moved the focus of their attention to smuggling, trade and privatization.[2] In the beginning of the 21st century, during the rule of National Movement Simeon II (2001-2005), assassinations became especially common. Evidence for the relations between criminal figures on the one hand and politicians and officials on the other is a recurring scandal in Bulgarian politics (UDF chief prosecutor Ivan Tatarchev allegedly recreated together with Ivo Karamanski, NMS-II finance minister Milen Velchev was photographed playing cards with "The Doctor", and most recently BSP interior minister Rumen Petkov negotiated with the shadowy "Galev brothers").

[edit] References

  1. ^ Murders prompt EU warning for Bulgaria over organised crime - Europe, News - The Independent. www.independent.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  2. ^ a b c SIC transit gloria mundi. www.capital.bg. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  3. ^ Залязват ли мутрите, или облакът е тъмен. Йово НИКОЛОВ. В-к Капитал. Брой 35, 03 септември 2005, 00:00
  4. ^ Залязват ли мутрите, или облакът е тъмен. Йово НИКОЛОВ. В-к Капитал. Брой 35, 03 септември 2005, 00:00

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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