Police have uncovered a scheme to sell blood for cash outside the Burgas university hospital and have cautioned seven people. Prosecutors have had a file on the case since this week. Doncho Zlatev of the "United Blood Donors" association, which raised the alarm, told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).
The association says people have traded blood near the hospital for years. Its tip reached the economic police. On 30 September, officers from the Fifth Police Station in Burgas checked the area around the transfusion haematology unit.
One person offered undercover officers blood at €100 a unit. That person called a second, who said he needed three people to fill the order.
Two people admitted in written statements that they sell blood for money and find other donors when needed. They named a main organiser, who was in hospital at the time. Police questioned seven people and drew up formal police warnings for them. The check found evidence that a group runs paid blood donation near the unit.
Zlatev raised the issue on BNR Burgas in September and created the platform. He now thanks officers from the Fifth Police Station and the economic police, who he says worked very professionally after the tip.
On what comes next, Zlatev told BNR: "The people have been identified. Now it is up to the prosecutors. I hope this case will be taken all the way."
The association has proposed a separate police patrol near the hospital, but that is not possible for now. Zlatev says the Burgas regional police directorate (ODMVR) has put constant patrols in the area into its plan, which he says will work as a deterrent.
"I am glad that in Burgas this practice met resistance," Zlatev said. He says the first step could help end paid blood donation in other cities too, and the best way to do that is for more people to give blood voluntarily.
In October, 27 people gave blood at a charity drive in Primorsko. The local council and the transfusion haematology unit of the Burgas university hospital organised it, and the unit's medical team took the blood.
United Blood Donors' proposals include a national blood donation strategy, a digital system to manage blood supplies and a national register of voluntary donors.