Sofia police detained two men aged 23 and 24 and a 15-year-old pupil in an operation against drug distribution around schools, as announced at a briefing by SDVR director Nikolay Peltekov.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The operation was carried out by officers of the Sixth District Police Department on operational information about dealers selling drugs near schools.[7][3][4][8]

The pupil was taken from his classroom during a lesson in the presence of Child Pedagogical Room inspectors from the Sixth District department and the school’s deputy director.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Officers found marijuana and an electronic scale on the boy.[9] Police did not name the school in order to protect the minor’s identity.[10][4]

In parallel, police checked a flat in Sofia’s Mladost-2 district occupied by the two detained men aged 23 and 24 and found herbal cannabis there.[11][2][3][4][5][6] The exact quantity of the seized drug has not yet been established and an expert assessment is still to determine it.[10][4] Police were checking unconfirmed information that products resembling chewing candy were among the distributed drugs, which laboratory tests still had to confirm or reject.[4] Police said both adult detainees have prior criminal records for drug distribution and were in breach of suspended sentences.[1][2][3][4][5] Police said the boy had no previous criminal record.[4] Peltekhov said the detentions had taken place only a few hours before the briefing and investigative actions were continuing.[10][4] Peltekov said capital police had found other cases of children being used to distribute drugs, but the available data did not yet indicate a lasting trend.[4]