9 people arrested as Bulgarian police break counterfeiting ring

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry reported that nine people were taken into custody and a big counterfeiting ring broken. The gang produced fake passports and visas and distributed them across Europe.

Photo: 9 people arrested as Bulgarian police break counterfeiting ring

The gang, allegedly led by a 45-year-old Bulgarian identified only as D.D., operated out of the country's second biggest city, Plovdiv, said national police chief Valentin Petrov.

Police said the haul included millions of fake passports for more than 15 countries, visas for the United States and the European Union's passport-free Schengen area and permanent residence permits for Britain. They also recovered other documents including insurance policies and road toll stickers for Greece, as well as printing devices.

Gregory Houston, security attache at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, said the operation had prevented up to Ђ50 million (US$73 million) from reaching criminal hands, the BTA news agency reported.