The District Court of Burgas took the remand of three Turkish people arrested for transporting narcotics substances across the Border. They are identified as Gurdzhan O., Mert O., and Shenol J. All three are Bulgarian citizens and also holds Turkish citizenship.
These individuals were travelling through the “Malko Tarnovo” checkpoint in a SETRA bus carrying 28 packages of high-risk narcotic substances across the country’s Border from the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Bulgaria.
The gross weight of narcotics captured from these people is 28,519 grams, distributed in three buckets of paint. During the court session, they refused to be guilty. In their defence, they offered an explanation of what happened. They stated before the Burgas District Court that they were tricked by a person strange to them. He requested to take three buckets of paint and transport them to the town of Silistra, and they will get paid. The bus owner did not suspect a hidden narcotic substance in those buckets.
According to the court, evidence collected up to a point requires a fair conclusion to make a reasonable belief that the three accused, most likely in collaboration with each other, are possible victims of the crime.
The evidence collected in the case indicates that the three defendants hold clean criminal records and long-term work habits, which led the district court to conclude that they are a low level of public danger.
However, their involvement in a crime like narcotics trafficking makes them a high-level threat to others. The district court is concerned about these three people, most likely allowing themselves to commit more crimes to pursue their comforts and needs.
The lack of permanent residency of all three defendants in the Republic of Bulgaria raises more worries for the Bulgarian court as they are foreign citizens. There is also a risk that the accused will run away.