On February 6, at around 7 p.m., the operational duty center of the RDGP-Elhovo received a signal about the movement of a "Reno" car near the border zone without a specific purpose. It was detected several times, and about an hour later it was found by a border police detachment of the GPU – Sredets to be moving towards the border.
At 11 p.m., a car patrol, with the participation of Frontex officers, located the "Reno" car in the area of the village of Vizitsa. During the check, 4 people, European citizens - two from Italy, one from Spain and one from Lithuania, were found in it. They stated that they had a reservation for an overnight stay at a hotel in Malko Tarnovo, but did not know the name of the hotel.
Around midnight on February 7, after the checks, the four were asked to leave the area where the police operation was taking place, but they again insisted that they would travel to Malko Tarnovo. They continued to tour the border area under the supervision of the officers of the General Directorate of Border Police. During several checks, they again stated that they would stay at a hotel whose name they did not remember.
At this time, no signals of people in distress in the area have been received.
At around 5:30 a.m., the car with the European citizens stopped in the area of Kubarelovata Vodenitsa. A woman got out of it and began to walk around the road, giving the impression that she was looking for something or someone. At that moment, a group of men emerged from the forest by the road. During the check, the border police officers determined that they were illegal migrants.
At the same moment that the European citizens saw the border police order, an English-speaking man called 112. He reported that he was on the road between the villages of Brashlyan and Zvezdets, where he had found a group of migrants (about 10), exhausted and in need of help.
At 5:30 a.m., 11 illegal migrants and the four European citizens, who were posing as volunteers from an NGO, were detained on the spot. All of them were taken to the GPU-Malko Tarnovo.
After a conversation with a licensed translator, the eleven individuals stated that they were from Morocco.
The Malko Tarnovo District Prosecutor's Office was notified.
A request file has been opened against the European citizens, and against the Moroccans - expedited proceedings according to the inventory of the GPU-Malko Tarnovo.
According to the conclusion of the medical examinations, all are clinically healthy. They were accommodated in a room at the Malko Tarnovo Police Station.
At 4:30 p.m., by order of the district prosecutor, the European citizens were released.
During the work, the migrants said that they had paid 150 euros each to a Turkish sewerman to take them to the temporary obstruction facility, who had given them coordinates where to go so that they could be provided with logistical assistance. The illegal migrants stated that when they were going to the indicated point near the asphalt road, they saw police cars. When asked why they did not go out in front of the cars when seeking help, they replied that according to the instructions given to them by the Turkish sewerman, they should have been called and found by the next sewermen. The European citizens refused to provide information.
The Moroccan citizens were handed over and accommodated in the Specialized Home for Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners (SDVTCH) in Lyubimets.
According to data from the "Border Police", in recent months foreign citizens posing as volunteers have been detained in more than five cases under similar circumstances.