Bulgaria's food safety agency (BABH) says it has found nearly 86 tonnes of illegal pesticides since the start of 2026.
Most were found during SILVER AXE XI, an international operation coordinated by Europol. It targets the illegal import, sale and use of banned pesticides. BABH has taken part eight times.
Inspectors made 1,209 checks at shops, unregistered warehouses and farms. They also examined products approved for parallel trade. Some checks were joint operations with the interior ministry and the State Agency for National Security (DANS).
The violations include pesticides that are not approved for use and others past their expiry date. Some were sold outside licensed outlets. Others were stored and sold with no label or with a label in a foreign language, and some were repackaged illegally. Some contained unapproved active substances, including neonicotinoids.
The agency also found illegal sales of unapproved pesticides on Facebook, some of them containing neonicotinoids. After sharing information, BABH and the interior ministry checked the sites involved and one vehicle.
A check with DANS showed that pesticides had been repackaged into containers labelled as food and household products.
Everything found was seized or placed under a distraint order. BABH drew up 25 citations for breaches of the Plant Protection Act.
In three of the cases, the agency alerted prosecutors, who opened pre-trial proceedings.