The arrest of the "Kalashnikovs" was spectacular. But society in Bulgaria has the right to ask: If people had not died in the horrific accident caused by a reckless chase, could the arrests not have happened?
When the Ministry of Interior carries out a spectacular operation with 36 arrests, which brings back memories of the operations against the "Killers" and "Insolent" from nearly 15 years ago, society has the right to ask why now. In a state governed by the rule of law, arrests must follow the logic of the investigation and the evidence collected, and not the needs of the political or institutional image.
The political context of the operation
The Ministry of Interior explained its actions with as many as six investigations by the Sofia City and Sofia District Prosecutor's Offices for racketeering, extortion and pimping. But the police operation against the group of "Kalashnikovs" also has a political context. Recently, the MP from "We Continue the Change" Velislav Velichkov stated in an interview with Deutsche Welle that the reason for the sudden departure of the acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Georgi Kandev may be the refusal to investigate the gang. According to him, there was an expectation that the ministry would act actively, after the name of the "Kalashnikovs" was mentioned. appeared publicly in connection with the accident with four victims and serious injuries caused by individuals associated with the group.
It turns out that if it were not for the death of these people in horrific circumstances - a powerful car crashed into a city bus during a reckless chase - there might not have been any arrests. When he left, Kandev did not give details. On social networks, he wrote only that he could not choose between his position and his principles and to "support a facade with his name."
Various speculations quickly appeared around his resignation, none of which he confirmed or denied. In addition to the "Kalashnikovs", another version linked him to a possible entry into politics as a possible candidate for vice president alongside Andrey Gyurov. A counter-explanation also emerged - a conflict with the Minister of the Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev over the Ukrainian construction entrepreneur Oleg Nevzorov, who built the illegal settlement in the seaside area of Baba Alino.
Fireworks for Lyubomir Nikolov
The action against the “Kalashnikovs” looks like a large-scale operation against a publicly recognizable criminal group. It involved teams from the General Directorate “Fight against Organized Crime” (GDBOP), the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs (SDVR) and the gendarmerie.
The arrests coincided with Nikolov's first days as Chief Secretary. Therefore, the operation is inevitably perceived as a demonstration that the Ministry of the Interior, with precisely this professional leader, is capable of striking at criminal groups - a message that the new leadership needs. Lyubomir Nikolov is considered close to former Interior Minister and former MP from the DPS-New Beginning Kalin Stoyanov, as he headed the SDVR during his ministerial term.
Now the Ministry of Interior claims to have collected enough evidence for the 36 arrests. If the prosecution succeeds in turning the detainees into defendants and the defendants into convicts, Demerdzhiev and Nikolov will boast of their first major blow against organized crime. And so the success will be recorded at their expense, not at those with whom the work against the group began.
Will there be convictions?
In the operations “The Insolent“ and “The Killers“, ultimately they resulted in convictions. This is the true measure of the success of any such operation. The first test of the quality of the evidence collected will be the court's decisions on the measures to prevent the detention of the detained "Kalashniks". The Minister of the Interior wrote yesterday on Facebook that this is just the beginning. "The state is taking on its functions. There are no untouchables. Enclaves too. Dirty money will be brought to light".
The gang attracted the attention of the police as early as May 2025, when officers of the 7th Regional Police Department detained the alleged leader of the gang, Petar Ivanov, known as Pesho Kalashnika. The arrest was made following a report by a 29-year-old woman who claimed that she had been held against her will for months and forced into prostitution.
According to investigators, the group's base is in Botunec, and it operated mainly in Studentski Grad and was engaged in pimping. After the gang was "brought to light," in the terminology of the Ministry of Interior, everything seems to continue as before. The men with tattooed Russian machine guns and black T-shirts continue with their illegal business.
Where is the presence of the Ministry of Interior in Studentski Grad?
The case also draws attention to Studentski Grad, which has been in the criminal news for years. If the operation marks the beginning of its "cleansing" of prostitution, racketeering, drug trafficking and related criminal networks, the stakes are higher than the fate of the "Kalashnikovs".
The presence of the Ministry of Interior is not felt in the "town", where student dormitories coexist with casinos, nightclubs, massage parlors and rather dubious businesses. If the state wants to regain control over this area, this will become clear not after 36 arrests, but when law and order remain and after the television cameras have left.
This text expresses the author's opinion and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State News Agency as a whole.