“I am afraid for my life and for my child. I didn’t know it was drugs in the apartment, “said Nikolay Petrov, who was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for possession of a record 367kg of cocaine in an apartment in Student City. The drugs were seized in May 2020. In addition to Petrov, Manol Nikolov was arrested and acquitted by the court.
The reason why the convicted Nikolay Petrov is afraid for his life is a mysterious man who asked him to rent an apartment in Student City and store the goods. The defendant did not give his name, but it became clear that he was the reason for fear.
Petrov denies knowing about the drugs, thinking they were medical supplies.
The mysterious man assured him that these were supplements and would be marketed.
He promised him too
longer term
relationships if
everything is fine
“I felt hopeless. My friend was pregnant and I was unemployed, “Petrov told the court. In his last word, Nikolai apologized for his actions and demanded that he bear his punishment.
Police found a number of high-purity packets of cocaine in his apartment.
Most of them were arranged in a three-wing wardrobe, without special secrets. 248 packets of expensive dust were arranged in three rows in the bedroom closet. The remaining 79 packages were found in a chest of drawers in the kitchen. Each of them weighs 1 kg and was wrapped in brown paper with markings. A professional packing machine and a scale with his prints were also found. Before the court, Nikolai denied using them.
“Nutritional supplements are not hidden in wardrobes,” the prosecutor said during the hearing.
The cocaine case was investigated by investigators after a routine inspection of Nikolai Petrov’s car on May 24, 2020.
His behavior was strange and suspicious of the police. Nikolai opened the trunk of the Mercedes, where there were 2 bags of cocaine. The police took his keys. With one of them they opened the studio, which he rented in the cooperative. Then the other packages were found.
The cocaine found in Nikolai’s trunk is estimated at BGN 9 million. The man was detained immediately.
“When the police stopped me, I told them I was carrying white powder for medicine. I found out what I was arrested for when I received the indictment. I was in shock, “Petrov told magistrates.
However, the prosecutor pointed out that a person who does not know that he is engaged in illegal activity does not need a hiding place in his car. According to the state prosecution, the huge amount of cocaine was intended for the Bulgarian market.
For cocaine
in the car Petrov
is justified
He was convicted only for drugs in the apartment. The indictment states that he kept cocaine in the trunk of his car from 5:25 pm to 6:23 pm. By that time, however, Nikolai had already been detained by police and his car confiscated for search. This is the only reason for him to be acquitted on this charge, the rapporteur in the case, Judge Toni Getov, said.
The other defendant in the case, Manol Nikolov, was acquitted because there was not enough evidence that he was an accomplice of Petrov, and he denied it.
The paths of Manol and Nikolai intersect in April 2020. Then Nikolov had to be operated on in a Sofia hospital. He was not able to rent an apartment because he supported himself only on a social pension. An acquaintance of his connected him with Nikolai, who received him in the apartment in Student City. He told the court that when he was 18, he suffered a severe accident in which he lost his left leg.
“I asked him to keep a record of the materials I took. He has no guilt, except that he received shelter for a month, “Nikolay Petrov told the court.
Investigators reached Manol Nikolov in a notebook with his handwriting. In it, he described the goods that were stored in the drug depot, as well as those that were taken out of the house.
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