A new drug, which dissolves in water or alcohol, takes over the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts

A new drug, which dissolves in water or alcohol, takes over the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts. The drug from the group of amphetamines is sold absolutely free in stores working day and night in the centre of Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), an inspection of Monitor showed. Its price is twice lower than the one of cocaine, however sensation is twice stronger, people who have tried it claim. In case of a systematic use the synthetic drug leads to madness, as it

causes heavy damages to the nervous system

The greatest problem of the authorities is that the drug is not present among the substances prohibited by the law and the people who are currently taking it through the borders are not subjects to criminal penalty. Monitor wrote first about the new amphetamines already in the beginning of June, and we described then a Romanian group, which packages them in Rousse.

“So far, we can only confiscate the drug. It is true that this drug is not forbidden, however, it is an analogue of illegal substances and this gives us the right to seize it,” one of the most experienced drug experts of the Customs Agency told Monitor. Anyway, the Narcotic Drugs Act is expected to be amended in September and these varieties of the synthetic drugs to be prohibited as well. According to specialists, the content of the liquid opiate is almost the same as the one of the amphetamine, mixed with LCD. Only one component of the formula is changed, which stops the prohibition of the law.

The first seized shipments were found at Sofia Airport already in May. In most of the cases

the drug is declared as bath salts  

with Chinese origin. For two months only, the investigators seized 24 attempts for traffic of the new drugs, known also as designer drug. The security services are currently watching four groups of foreigners – Irish people, Romanians and Latvians who have opened drug stores at the Black Seaside.

“In May this year they started registering companies in Bulgaria. At the same time we started seizing the shipments as well,” investigators told Monitor. A team of the newspaper went to one of the biggest resorts – Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), where there is currently a

boom of the trade of new drugs

You may ask anybody in the resort about the location of the Nirvana shop, where the opiates are offered, you will immediately receive directions.

“Ааа, you must be asking about the coffee shop, it is similar to the ones in the Netherlands, there is everything in it,” an artist exhibiting in the central part of the resort tells us. The shop, which is the most popular one in Slunchev Bryag, is located at about 20 meters from the Kuban Hotel and is some meters away from the nightclubs. Besides it, there are about dozens similar ones in the resort. It is written on its glass door that it works day and night. Unusual presents, souvenirs, party pills are part of the inscriptions in English, which tempt foreigners. For most of the teenagers spending their holiday there, these messages are sufficient to make them enter, as they know the new drugs, which were introduced to Western Europe five to six years ago. Get High Quality Products is written on the right side of the shop window, which is a pun, as get high

in English means “use drugs”

People from the resort said that the person one could see entering Nirvana during the day is some dealer, who is getting stocked with goods. The real buzz starts after 11 p.m., when the main street is bursting out with foreigners, and each pub or disco is trying to attract customers with different promotions. Just before midnight on Saturday, there was a queue in front of the shop. A team of the newspaper came in as well and purchased a dose of drug, which is dissolved in water.

„We have everything, just see and decide what you do want. We have stuff for smoking, drinking and snuffing,” about 30-year old seller tells in English with accent. All drugs are exhibited in different metal boxes or packages, as in a pharmacy. While the seller shows the goods in the window shop, another man from the shop is smoking casually and scans the visitors at the same time.

“I could also offer the so called bewitched souvenir. One gram of it is sufficient for one person and will have effect for eight hours, there is also a package of half a gram,” the bald-headed seller says.

We chose the half-gram packing with a price of 30 leva. We were given a small cardboard box with a little angel painted on it. Inside the card there is a small nylon bag with a machine gun painted on it. In contrast to the dealers in the capital, the seller even

issues a cash register note for the drug sold

“Its taste is extremely bitter. It is made on purpose, so that you do not throw it up while drinking it, as it has a disgusting taste similar to the one of the sperm”, a person, who has tried the drug, explained for Monitor.  

Over 100 varieties are offered freely in the market

Over 100 are the currently offered varieties of the amphetamines in the different markets.  The main producer of this kind of drug is China.

“This country is one of the biggest suppliers of chemicals. The experts there have made studies which components are prohibited in the different European countries and make their derivatives. When 100 containers of chemicals arrive today, you have no time to check them all,” experts told Monitor. In the moment when the new drugs are prohibited, the bosses move to another country. For example, only six countries have remained in Europe so far, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the Czech Republic. In order to cope with the problem, the drug departments all over Bulgaria are meeting currently and exchange information both among them and with their foreign partners. A task force consisting of officers from the Fight against Organized Crime Chief Directorate and experts from the Customs Agency was formed, which should prepare a strategy for the fight against the so-called designer drugs. About a month ago Bulgarian customs officers have met also their Greek and Romanian counterparts to discuss the issue.

Ukrainian Company Mails It

A Ukrainian company offers sending the new drug via the mail, investigators told Monitor. Besides it, there are also dozens of sites, behind which stay Irish and Latvian people and they perform the same service. Novosilver is one of the sites for ordering the so called designer drugs and it is registered in France. Another site, alibaba, even names a distributor, Andrei Rado, who says that they have experience with sales in Bulgaria as well. The price for 200 grams is 1,200 euro. The minimum quantity, which might be ordered, is 5 grams for a price of 80 euro, and the maximum amount 2 kilograms. Mefedron is among the most widespread designer drugs.  It could be seized at borders only under the method of risk analysis, as dogs cannot snuff it. So far, only for the period from May to July, experts from the drug department at the Sofia Airport have seized over 60 kilograms of it.

You Become Super Aggressive

The new drug, which is found in the stores of Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) and along the whole Black Seaside, makes you extremely aggressive and you could easily kill a person, an addict, with whom the newspaper team met, told Monitor.  The young man is from Sliven and tells that almost every day he gets high with the new drug, which he buys freely from some shops in Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach). 

„Once you get high, you may spend at least 24 hours up, without feeling sleepy. You are full of energy”, explains the 20-year old boy with whom we talked just when he was going out of the Nirvana shop, where the legitimate opiate is offered. 

“When you get high with this drug, you could make almost all – from fighting in the discotheque to attempt for night swimming; you have the feeling that you can swim across the whole sea”, the young man adds.

Up to 2 Grand per Night for the Dealers in front of Entertainment Places

Groups of young men direct their steps enthusiastically to the drug shop. The dealers in front of the discotheque in the smaller resorts earn about 2,000 leva per night. Three boys work in Sozopol, which is located at about 90 kilometers from the Mecca of the drugs, Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach). They easily take around some 200 packages of the legal drug and offer it in front of the entertainment places. Since the drug is still new in the market and there is no established boss to be responsible for it, there is no problem for everybody to sell it, persons acquainted with the business say. If the price in the shop is 60 leva per gram, the dealers offer it for 80 leva. They go in groups of three, and only two of them sell. The boys stand in front of the most visited places in the resort and expect tipsy partygoers. While two of them are promoting the goods, the third is sitting in a car nearby, where the drug is hidden.

“We have no problems with the police yet, as this kind of drug is considered legal,” one of the dealers tells Monitor. However, he explains that they are often robbed, since there is no established boss in the business with these opiates to protect them.  

„For example yesterday (on Friday – note of the author) drunken Russians gave us a good beating and took the whole material. It was good that most of it were in the car,” one of the dealers in Sozopol complained. He explained that he went to Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) every day, where he goes shopping. Since he was a regular customer, he was known in the shops and they gave him discount.