54
Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends
173
equipment. The traffickers will then make a rough estimate of the number of
cars the selected dealerships could sell to their clients and order the batch of
vehicles. Such luxury cars, however, should not be imported in conspicuously
high numbers, as that may provoke suspicions.
At the second stage, the target vehicle is identified and stolen. Europol
272
and
national police data from Spain, Italy and France reveal that the modus operandi
in vehicle theft is changing to several technically unencumbered methods, such as
car jacking with use of violence and theft of original keys, so that the offenders
do not need to disable the sophisticated security features of modern cars.
The third stage is transportation to the Bulgarian market. The stolen vehicle may
be transported in a regular container supplied with false freight documents for
goods that are not normally monitored. The risk, however, is high, as container
shipped cargo is generally closely monitored. The second major task at this stage
is to find a car double and collect any possible identification number or sign on
it - on the frame, engine, gear box, immobilizer, windowpanes, mirrors, seats,
belts, etc. The double may be a wrecked car bought from its owner at a small
price or one found in car dealership and inspected carefully under the false
pretenses of intended purchase, during which its identifications are meticulously
copied. The few such schemes that have been resolved by investigative bodies
reveal extensive use of advanced technologies. For instance, details about the cars
in demand in the destination country (Bulgaria) are sent via the internet, mobile
phone built-in cameras are used to photograph the targeted double’s identity
numbers, which are then sent back in messages, etc. All codes and numbers
of the stolen car are then replaced by skilled mechanics using fine instruments,
so that the falsification could only be spotted with very precise detectors. The
newly produced double has extremely low odds of being caught, as the original’s
absence is not investigated in the first place. Indeed, such schemes are rarely
captured and police recorded at all, and the actual share of cars thus altered
cannot be calculated with any certainty. Police figures across the EU also show
that only a small percentage of such cars are found. This raises the question why
Bulgaria, rather than EU countries, is picked as a destination market. Possibly,
among the Bulgarian population there are still multiple purchasers believing they
can get a high-class car at a preferential price or willing to risk driving a stolen
vehicle that they could never afford under normal circumstances.
There are two more schemes for importing motor vehicles stolen in Western Eu-
rope. The first was originally used in the 1990s, but is already becoming obsolete.
It is an insurance fraud employed by vehicle owners who sell their car on the
black market at a price three times as low as its theft coverage. When all transfer
procedures are completed and the car is transferred to the market country,
273
usually two months after the deal (that is the maximum period admissible when
applying for insurance), the owner reports the car stolen to the police and the
insurance company. If his insurance was, for instance, 30,000 German marks and
272 Europol, An Overview of Motor Vehicle Crime from a European Perspective, January 2006.
273 Interviews with respondents А, S, N; similar practices occur in other East European countries and
Russia as well, see Gerber, G., and Killias, M. The Transnationalization of Historically Local Crime: Auto
Theft in Western Europe and Russia Markets, European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal
Theft in Western Europe and Russia Markets, European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal
Theft in Western Europe and Russia Markets
Justice, Vol. 11, No. 2 / May, 2003.
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56
174
The Vehicle Theft Market
the amount he got on the black market one third of that–i.e. 10,000 German
marks, he would pocket 40,000 from the non-existent theft. When at some point,
EU insurance companies shortened the period for reporting the theft to a few
hours, the scheme became nearly unusable, as for such a short time the car
could at best be transferred through the border to a neighboring country and
could be trafficked further only if its identity was changed. Therefore, this modus
operandi was replaced by the bankrupt company scheme, which came in wide
use in 2006. It involves the setting up or buying of an extant company abroad,
which then leases several cars. The cars are transferred to the destination country
and sold at the black market. The company at the source state is then made
bankrupt, leasing payments are terminated, and the cars are not restored.
Finally, there is a reverse scheme of expensive car doubles–the original cars are
found in Bulgaria, with the owner providing all necessary ID, including number
plates, vehicle documents, and insurance papers, which are exported to Western
Europe. A stolen car of the same model is then imported, which has to be exam-
ined by the traffic police before its Bulgarian registration documents are issued.
The original car is taken to these examinations and thus the trafficked double is
provided with legal documents. There are cases in which a car has had four to
five such clones.
Volume of the Auto Theft Market
In contrast to the mid-1990s, in recent years the number of car thefts not re-
ported to the police has dwindled to 1–2%. Current estimates of recent police
statistics suggest that over 60% of car theft victims are offered to have their car
restored against a certain sum. Ransoms are usually demanded when the car is
not covered against theft. With insured cars, which, according to expert estimates,
are around 30%, the thieves approach the insurance company to offer a deal.
All in all, it can be calculated that ransom was demanded from 3,500 people in
2005 when the number of stolen vehicles was 5,900, and from 3,000 individuals
in 2006 when 5,000 were stolen.
274
Some experts claim that 90% of victims pay
the ransom demanded of them.
275
In around 10% of the cases insurance fraud is
involved when a person, who has found out about the theft but is not the owner,
approaches the insurance company to claim the insurance amount.
The above figures could be used as a basis to make a rough estimate of the car
theft market’s size in 2005–2006. Findings from the National Crime Survey reveal
that on average the value of a stolen car is 6,100–6,200 levs, whereas the average
ransom is around 2,200.
276
The latest police data, however, show that in 2006
stolen cars’ value markedly rose to 10,000–12,000 levs. It may be surmised that
the ransom has also risen to an average of 3,000–4,000. Thus, the total market
274
Non-existent thefts were reported by 10 to 15% of car owners who wished to get rid of an
old vehicle or a vehicle that would not pass the registration procedure. In those cases the own-
ers usually sold the car for scrap which made them exempt from fines or fees that could be
imposed on them.
275 A victimization survey carried out by Vitosha Research in November 2006 found out that 31%
of car theft victims were asked for ransom, and 56 % of them paid it. The relatively low ratio
of demanded and paid ransoms could be explained with the respondents’ unwillingness to self-
report behavior that is as an offense under the law.
276 Crime Trends in Bulgaria 2000 – 2005, Center for the Study of Democracy, Sofia, 2006.
43
Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends
175
value of stolen vehicles seems to have gone up from 30 million levs in 2005 to
55 million in 2006. The total revenues of car ransom seekers have increased
from 7.7 million in 2005 to 10.5 million levs in 2006.
To measure the average profits of a car theft ring, it could be assumed that 60%
of car thefts are committed in Sofia. Thus, ransom revenues in 2005–2006 would
amount to 4.6–6.3 million levs. The Sofia Directorate of Interior has estimated
that at the local market where 10 to 20 auto theft groups are active, one group
could make between 230,000 and 630,000 levs per year. A member of a group
of 80 to 100 individuals could then make from 45,000 to 80,000 levs annually.
4.6. CAR THEFT MARKET DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS
A comparison of the stolen motor vehicle market in Bulgaria in 1995 with the lat-
est data from 2006 suggests that its profits have shrunk five to six times, whereas
stolen car numbers have fallen to the pre-1990 level. This raises the question
whether car safety has increased to reach socialist-time levels or whether orga-
nized criminal car-theft networks are not any longer the severe problem they
used to be. Despite the decrease, if the share of thefts not cleared-up is over
50% this is a sign of the presence of criminal enterprises on the market. As re-
gards car theft Bulgaria remains one of the countries with lowest clear-up rate.
Considering the convergence of the factors described above (rapid overall de-
crease of auto thefts, invariably low clear-up rate, networks immune to inves-
tigation, emigration of many well-known auto thieves to the EU, and the well
covered market of doubles) one could outline several probable scenarios for the
future of the auto theft market in Bulgaria:
First, an optimistic scenario could be proposed. With this scenario car thefts
will persistently decrease, as manufacturers will continuously improve built-in de-
fenses. Factory made electronic devices will only be available at franchise dealer
service points and gray car workshops will disappear. The growing number of
insured cars (due to attractively priced comprehensive insurance and third party
liability packages) will discourage their owners from paying ransom in case of
theft. Due to advanced equipment for total video surveillance and comprehensive
electronic data storage, the police will improve evidence gathering and effectively
detect motor theft offenses. These trends will compel more experienced thieves
to exit the auto theft market.
A more realistic scenario will be for the decline of auto thefts to stop when it
reaches an average of 4,000 stolen vehicles annually. At present, the number of
stolen cars per capita in Bulgaria is one of the lowest compared to the rest of the
EU. At the same time, theft and trafficking remain a lucrative business, as Bulgaria
is surrounded with the much less controlled car theft markets of other Balkan
and Black Sea states, and regions like the Caucasus and the Middle East. It could
reasonably be expected that new cross-border possibilities will open up to Bulgar-
ian auto theft networks after the borders of EU states were lifted in 2007.
110
176
The Vehicle Theft Market
The pessimistic scenario takes into account cyclical trends captured by both
home and EU statistics. Such records demonstrate that after long-term lows, car
thefts tend to rise again. As more expensive and newer cars will increase in
number, Bulgarian auto thieves could focus on this segment by developing new
theft methods and enhancing their ties with actors on the international car theft
market.
277 EU crime experts point out that data about car thefts in Germany may lack in realism, as local
statistics only records stolen cars for which charges are pressed.
Table 15. Stolen vehicles in the EU (2004)
Vehicles stolen
Vehicles not recovered
Clear-up rate
Austria
5,973
3,536
59.2
Belgium
19,104
8,173
42.8
Bulgaria
7,569
1,109
14.7
Denmark
9,838
1,391
14.1
Finland
12,353
2,469
20.0
France
186,430
116,472
62.5
Germany
35,034
277
Greece
15,010
6,468
43.1
Ireland
9,065
5,399
59.6
Italy
221,925
115,641
52.1
Luxemburg
526
238
45.2
Netherlands
22,989
9,598
41.8
Portugal
14,832
9,222
62.2
Spain
122,248
85,001
69.5
Sweden
38,058
3,304
8.7
UK
214,000
85,000
39.7
Cyprus
427
225
52.7
Czech Republic
24,230
3,786
15.6
Estonia
1,209
625
51.7
Hungary
9,065
Latvia
3,306
1,865
56.4
Malta
825
238
28.8
Poland
51,319
Slovakia
4,801
1,107
23.1
Slovenia
1,026
380
37.0
Source: Europol
62
5. THE ANTIQUITIES TRADE – DEALERS, TRAFFICKERS,
AND CONNOISSEURS
In contrast to the strictly illicit and rigorously prosecuted drug business, the
antiquities
278
market involves a wide spectrum of activities from clandestine ex-
cavations and looting through legal sales at auction houses and antique shops to
displays at established museums or private collections. In many cases, irrespec-
tive of their origin, antiquities can be supplied with false provenance documents
and sold at auctions as though legally acquired. Sometimes the end owners do
not even have to go that far–a 1999 study of British archaeologists Christopher
Chippendale and David Gill demonstrated that a bulky 75% of the artifacts in
the sample of large private museum collections surveyed are unprovenanced.
279
State museums of international repute are no exception. The Director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York claims that most of the antique artifacts
imported in America in the last decade or so have been trafficked in violation
of source countries’ laws.
280
278 For the purposes of this paper the commonly known term antiquities has been used throughout
antiquities has been used throughout
antiquities
to signify moveable cultural property, such as artifacts from the past or old coins, which are
the main objects of black trade, in alternation with the legal term monument of culture taken
monument of culture taken
monument of culture
from Bulgarian heritage legislation (with its variables movable monument of culture and
movable monument of culture and
movable monument of culture
immovable
monument of culture). The Law on Monuments of Culture and Museums defines the latter term
as ”any movable and immovable authentic material evidence of human presence or activity
which possesses scientific and/or cultural value and is of public significance.” Objects of high
value belong to the category of national cultural assets or treasures. The more awkward cultural
and historical property is still in official use at certain Bulgarian institutions (for instance, the Min-
and historical property is still in official use at certain Bulgarian institutions (for instance, the Min-
and historical property
istry of Interior), but is becoming obsolete. The term monument of culture is a local coinage that
monument of culture is a local coinage that
monument of culture
differs from internationally recognized terminology. For instance, the UNESCO Convention on
the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of
Cultural Property (14 November 1970) adopts the term cultural property and defines it as ”prop-
cultural property and defines it as ”prop-
cultural property
erty which, on religious or secular grounds, is specifically designated by each State as being of
importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science and which belongs to the
following categories: (a) rare collections and specimens of fauna, flora, minerals and anatomy,
and objects of palaeontological interest; (b) property relating to history, including the history of
science and technology and military and social history, to the life of national leaders, thinkers,
scientists and artist and to events of national importance; (c) products of archaeological excava-
tions (including regular and clandestine) or of archaeological discoveries; (d) elements of artistic
or historical monuments or archaeological sites which have been dismembered; (e) antiquities
more than one hundred years old, such as inscriptions, coins and engraved seals; (f) objects of
ethnological interest”.
279 There are countries such as Germany where any artifact can easily be registered with no re-
quirement to state its source, while the certificate received would commonly read ”provenance
unknown”. Thus, prosecution is possible only if the artifact was stolen from an already legal
collection and its previous owner filed a lawsuit.
280 Archeology, May/June 1993, p.17.
Archeology, May/June 1993, p.17.
Archeology
55
178
The Antiquities Trade – Dealers, Traffickers, and Connoisseurs
Alerted by the increasing challenges to historical heritage preservation faced by a
number of nations, in the second half of the twentieth century the international
community undertook the first round of measures against the trafficking of mov-
able monuments of culture. Europe and the wider world, however, are creating
a continuing market demand for cultural property that foments its trans-border
traffic to the present day.
Heritage legislation in the EU is far from harmonized and even the underlying
approach to cultural property protection differs from state to state. The regulation
of the market of illicit antiquities can be addressed through a variety of solutions,
sometimes complete opposites, precisely because it ravels legal, quasi-legal and
purely criminal aspects. The major regulation patterns known are the conservative
(or South European) and the liberal (or North European).
281
The first approach
is exemplified by the Greek Law 3028/2002 on the Protection of Antiquities and
Cultural Heritage in General. The second type of regulation can be found in its
purest form in the Netherlands, known for its liberal heritage legislation and a
large variety of public–private partnerships in this field. The main points where
the two models differ concern ownership, the rules governing domestic trade
and export of antiquities and the powers of the state to regulate that trade.
Irrespective of the chosen model, however, in all EU member states there are
private organizations in the field of culture, private museums, auction houses that
can sell antiquities freely, as well as a long history of antiquities trade and pri-
vate art collections.
282
Due to its past affiliation to the communist bloc, however,
Bulgaria’s private business with cultural goods has remained poor, depleting even
further with the dissolution of the communist state.
The scope of this paper allows for a brief analysis of only some aspects of the
illegal acquisition, trade, collecting and trans-border trafficking of antiquities and
the ways they interact with the semi-legal and purely legal cultural objects market
at home and abroad.
5.1. DOMESTIC TRADE IN ANTIQUITIES
Prior to 1989 Bulgaria’s communist regime policed looters
283
and controlled the
export of antiquities rather uncompromisingly. Private collectors who were not affili-
ated to high party officials were openly repressed, as in the case of the renowned
gold coin collector Zhelyazko ”the Emperor” Kolev. The Law on Monuments of
Culture and Museums (LMCM) issued back in 1969 defined the cultural objects
market actors as: government agencies, private collectors and local state-owned
museums, which remained the case until the democratic changes took place. As
the communist state with the institutional structure that bound it fell apart, looting,
trade and smuggling of antiquities in Bulgaria entered their golden age.
281 For further details see Chobanov, T., ”Analysis of Foreign Cultural Heritage Legislation and
Practices” in: Comparative Study of the National Cultural Heritage Legislation in Bulgaria and Some EU
Member States, Sofia, 2006, p.45.
Member States, Sofia, 2006, p.45.
Member States
282 Ibid.
283 Looters of the old type were treasure seekers who dug up in deserted areas known by word of
mouth to cache treasure-troves underground. They rarely approached and damaged archaeologi-
cal monuments.
45
Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends
179
Looting and Lowest-Level Antiquities Distribution
Driven by the lax law enforcement and the mass poverty that struck the popu-
lation with the social and economic crisis the number of treasure hunters and
plundered sites in the early 1990s drastically increased. Initially chaotic, archaeo-
logical pillaging grew structured and specialized in terms of the loot targeted and
the activities performed, gradually forming a hierarchy of participation. Looters,
middlemen and smugglers practically had free rein, going about their business
unpunished throughout the late 1990s as well. Two factors contributed to the
flourishing of illicit archaeological effort and trading in movable monuments of
culture.
Society and the authorities tend to be lenient to such offenses, which generally
remain underreported, as looting and trading in antiquities do not cause direct
damages to the individual. Furthermore, several striking archaeological findings
at the start of the new millennium spurred excessive enterprise among looters.
Newly unearthed sites were swarmed and pilfered even as archaeologists and
historians were trying to conduct proper explorations.
MoI experts claim that looters have so far combed the better portion of the cul-
tural layer (estimates mention some 80%), part of which consists of immovable
monuments–mainly Thracian hills, tombs and other sites dating back from antiq-
uity to the Middle Ages. Estimates about active looters range between 100,000
to 250,000.
284
Despite the striking figure most of these people are either amateur
treasure hunters, or incidental finders. The professionals among them do not
exceed several thousands. In the late 1990s the latter were becoming much bet-
ter equipped and regularly used fine-tuned metal detectors (capable of registering
the type of metal that lies buried several meters underground and provide 3D
images of the buried artefacts) and more advanced excavation technology (such
as bulldozers, tractors and navies).
The criminal groups that deal with field exploration and illicit excavations are
highly mobile. They are most active in summer, making excavations in arable
lands and forests. Sometimes they purchase fields in close location to archaeologi-
cal sites and deep-dig the soil without any precaution. Alternatively, the land is
leased or the would-be agrarians are paid to plough it, while their true intention
One major archaeological site that has been drawing treasure hunters for many years is the Roman settlement
Ratsiaria whose remnants are located in close proximity to the village of Archar in Dimovo municipality. Local
looters are assaulting the place as a matter of routine. In 2006 alone the police caught the perpetrators–individu-
als, or whole looting gangs–of fifteen forays to the site. Prompt police investigations led to convictions in seven
of the cases, while the rest have not yet been finalized.
Source: Information from the National Police Service of 25 January 2007.
Box 6. The Archar case
284 Interview with representative of the Cultural and Historical Property Contraband Section at the
NSCOC.
58
180
The Antiquities Trade – Dealers, Traffickers, and Connoisseurs
is to search for loot with metal detectors.
285
Apart from looting, which is normally
prosecuted as a crime, there are other activities, such as construction in areas
bordering on or within territories protected by heritage legislation, whose ruinous
effect on cultural sites shouldn’t be underestimated.
Considering their scale and price, local experts have called the domestic market
of illicit antiquities ”small trafficking” in contrast to cultural property export to
other, market nations which is ”big trafficking”.
286
Domestic trade in cultural
items should be set apart form criminal trans-border trafficking as in most cases
the former belongs to the gray, rather than the black market. On the domestic
market further transactions are made between private collectors trading coins or
other artifacts with each other. The primary market chain involving local finders,
local dealers and local collectors feeds into the domestic exchange of coins or
other collectibles. Another market that in recent years has flourished enough to
become a self-supporting business for some people is the manufacture and sale
of fake antiquities. Reportedly, a number of clandestine mints are operating in
Bulgaria mainly to supply the US coin market. Counterfeiting found or pillaged
ancient coins before selling them is also common practice among local looters
and dealers.
287
Initially the internal market of antiquities is supplied through a local network
of looters and dealers to satisfy the demand for artifacts and coins of thousands
of numismatists across the country.
288
Such high domestic demand indicates the
existence of many illicit private collections, some of them so rich that they rival
museum deposits. Antiquities can also be found in collections owned by private
banks.
Experts claim that artifacts are purchased and sold several times before reaching
private home collections or trans-border dealers. Large-scale traffickers are several
dozens.
289
Some of them are already permanently based abroad as antique shop
owners. They are so connected as to be able to produce particular coin types
and artifacts on demand in the market country by directing a robbery or loot-
ing mission at the right place in the source country. Mid-scale dealers operate
by regions, selecting the artifacts supplied by local finders and offering the most
valuable ones to their bosses.
Foreign nationals (mostly Germans and Greeks) are also increasingly involved
in this business and further play the role of middlemen in illicit export. Greeks
specialize in supplying Bulgarian Orthodox church-plate to foreign markets, which
may explain the growing number of church and monastery burglaries committed
locally. The demand from foreign states and the number of non-local dealers
285
Report of the Crime Counteraction, Public Order Maintenance and Prevention Chief Directorate
(CCPOMPCD) of the National Police Service, 25 January 2007, p.2.
286 Interview with Ministry of Culture experts, January 18, 2007.
287 The story of six looters was recently reported in the Bulgarian media. The gang had been digging
up antiquities from ancient hills, tombs and caves and selling them together with the replicas
they were producing, Plovdiv21.com, August 10, 2006, <http://www.plovdiv24.com/news/18384.
html)>
288 Ibid.
289 By expert estimates of the NSCOC.
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