Police Warns: Romanian Pickpockets Gangs Operate in Bulgaria

Romanian pickpockets have infested Bulgaria recently. For the first time the police had spotted them at the start of the pandemic. Then they were just on a "guest tour." Late last year, however, they came for a longer time, even renting a flat in Sofia, Nova TV reported.

There are dozens of their victims robbed in Sofia public transport. In addition to ransacking passengers' bags, these pickpockets earn a minimum of BGN 500 a day, pretending to be deaf-mute.

In early February, while boarding a tram in Macedonia Square, a woman was robbed by a Romanian.

"I was talking on the phone, unfortunately, and my bag was half-open. I felt someone pulling it, but I couldn't react as I was getting on. The tram closed the doors. Inside, I found out my purse was gone.  Besides the credit card, I carried a significant amount of money to pay my taxes. Somewhere around BGN 800," the victim recounted.

On the same day other public transport passengers had their wallets stolen. They met at the police station.

"An elderly woman, with a cane was crying in the police reception room. She explained that they stole her pension. She said she had no family and did not know how she would survive the month.

In the last two months, there have been 70 complaints received at the Urban Mobility Center.

"For over three months now, all public transport vehicles have been equipped with CCTV cameras. Everything is recorded and transmitted in real time. The video is transmitted to the competent authorities, I can assure you that it is almost impossible to do anything in public transport that would pass unnoticed", Dimitar Dilchev from the Urban Mobility Center said.

Romanian pickpockets came to Bulgaria at the end of last year. They rented an...