Border police stopped a minibus carrying 24 people without documents after a short chase near the village of Yasna Polyana, in Primorsko municipality, on 20 September, prosecutors said.

A Border Police Chief Directorate patrol tried to stop the foreign-registered minibus, which was coming from Primorsko. The driver, a Georgian, ignored the signal and kept going. All 24 people were in the cargo area. They had no identity papers and said they were Afghans. Prosecutors say they entered Bulgaria from Turkey.

The figures come from the monthly review by a joint unit of the prosecutor's office and the interior ministry, which helps investigate drug crimes and illegal migration.

Between 1 and 30 September, police seized a total of 3,130 kg of cannabis in Bulgaria. They detained 808 people in cases of drug production, processing, acquisition, possession and dealing. Police ran 554 special operations and opened 770 pre-trial proceedings. They found 30 drug labs and sites used to make and grow drugs. The interior ministry also said 306 court rulings in drug cases came into force during the month.

Near the village of Dragush, officers of the National Police Chief Directorate found a field with 157 green plants weighing 236 kg in total. A field drug test was positive for cannabis.

On 1 September, officers from the Pazardzhik regional police directorate stopped an SUV with two passengers who have criminal records. The car held 4 plastic canisters of brownish liquid, and a field test showed amphetamine. In a property the two men lived in and ran, officers found a synthetic drug lab and 3 boxes of dry green leaf matter that tested positive for marijuana. Police seized about 28 kg of amphetamine and 35 kg of marijuana in the case.

During the month, police ran 391 special operations against illegal migration. They detained 16 third-country nationals staying illegally and 69 people for migrant smuggling, and opened 28 new pre-trial proceedings. In all, 73 court rulings came into force in cases of illegally taking people across the border and of unlawfully helping foreigners to stay in or cross Bulgaria.

The figures for August were higher than for July. Police found 52 labs and sites, against 37 in July, and opened 891 pre-trial proceedings for drug crimes, against 827. In August, they detained 852 people in total.