MODUS OPERANDI AND TRENDS OF HIGH-RISK CRIMINAL NETWORKS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION OPERATING IN REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

The manuscript aims to explore and represent the currently exploited trends and strategies of organized criminal groups active in the Republic of Bulgaria, involved in smuggling of illegal migrants across Europe as part of a larger high-risk criminal networks. It details the prevailing trends and specific mechanisms employed in these criminal activities over the past three years, relying on a methodology of data analysis from different text sources and the professional experience of the author. The topic of the paper is researched from the perspectives of criminology, law enforcement, and intelligence. The study identifies five key findings as primary factors—the geo-social factor, the local factor, the foreign factor, the factor of criminal and non-criminal actors, and the geopolitical factor—that influence the characteristics of criminal groups engaged in illegal immigration, as observed in Bulgaria. These factors offer insights for enhancing operational and strategic responses to counter emerging threats posed by high-risk criminal networks of illegal immigration. The research emphasizes the different organizational levels and operational functions of these criminal groups and their networks. It examines specific patterns of criminal activity over the past three years, including the roles of illegal migrants, their drivers, guides, field captains, middlemen, and the leaders of the criminal organizations.