“The decision to open a DEA office in Sofia reflects the close and mutually beneficial relationship we share and the success we have had combating narcotics trafficking together,” Warlick. He cited cooperation going back to the 1990s between the DEA and Bulgaria’s General Department for Combating Organized Crime .
“To date, this collaboration has resulted in the disruption of the activities of significant criminal groups and the seizure of over 1,500 kilograms of illegal narcotics.”
Warlick’s announcement followed a meeting with Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and DEA Regional Director Mark Destito.
The DEA has also trained more than150 law enforcement personnel since 2008, while special agents from both countries work together on anti-mafia operations targeting the “highest level of traffickers and organized crime figures operating in Bulgaria,” according to a news release.
Bulgaria is positioned across Balkan smuggling routes and is primarily a transit country for drugs, people and money trafficked on to Western Europe, according to a 2010 report on international narcotics trafficking by the US State Department.
“Heroin distributed in Europe moves through Bulgaria from Southwest Asia via the Northern Balkan route, while chemicals used for making heroin move through Bulgaria to Turkey and Afghanistan. Marijuana and cocaine are also transported through Bulgaria.”
The DEA has slowly been building its foreign influence since it was founded in 1973. Before inaugurating the office in Sofia, the agency had 87 offices in 64 countries, according to the New York Times. Cables released by WikiLeaks revealed that the international presence grew due to the links between drug trafficking and terrorist financing, in addition to agency officials’ desire to expand their mandate.
