FBIS3-41272
"jptdd007__l94062"
JPRS-TDD-94-007-L
Document Type:JPRS
Document Title:Narcotics
14 February 1994
EAST EUROPE
BULGARIA
Intelligence Chief Views Fight Against Mafia, Narcotics
AU1002201694 Sofia KONTINENT in Bulgarian 5 Feb 94 p 7
AU1002201694
Sofia KONTINENT
Language: Bulgarian
Article Type:BFN
[Interview with Brigo Asparukhov, director of the National
Intelligence Service, by Angelina Petrova; place and date not
given: "Secret List of Companies Belonging to State Security Was
Openly Photocopied in Interior Ministry"]
[Excerpts] [passage omitted] [Petrova] What information
does the NRS have about the present participation of Bulgarians
in the narcotics trafficking that has always been routed through
our country?
[Asparukhov] I am worried about the possibility that in the
near future, narcotics money will flow into our economy during
the forthcoming privatization. When this happens, it will
become almost impossible to combat the narcotics trade. This
money will then be laundered and no one will be able to prove
its origin. The profits from narcotics trafficking worldwide
amount to U.S.$400 billion.
The fight against organized crime, of which the sale of
narcotics forms a part, requires decisive actions. This
primarily means we need a clear program, in which the NRS and
all the Interior Ministry organs should play a part. It is
particularly important that the National Security Service--our
counterintelligence--is also involved. [passage omitted]
[Petrova] Those who defend the protection and security
companies claim that they have succeeded in preventing foreign
mafias, including the Russian mafia, from establishing
themselves in Bulgaria. Is this true?
[Asparukhov] There are no grounds for making such a claim.
It is a manifest fact that foreign mafias or organized criminal
groups from the former socialist countries, Russia included, are
invading our country. Money, narcotics, and criminals are being
imported to carry out special tasks for the criminal world. The
private security firms in Bulgaria probably have their part to
play in the future market economy, but it will hardly be within
their powers to deal with the penetration of foreign mafias.
This claim is frivolous. [passage omitted]