A Bulgarian national, known as the “cocaine king”, by his real name Evelin Banev Nikolov was sent to trial by Romanian prosecutors for drug trafficking. He was also known under the names "Brendo” and „Igor”.

“Evidence show that during April 2012, the defendant Evelin Banev Nikolov, with the support of some unidentified persons, introduced 51 kg of cocaine in Romania, with the intention to sell it. The drugs were then delivered to other people with the help of defendant Radoslav Georgiev Atanasov and of other unidentified accomplices,” reads the statement of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

Bulgarian Radoslav Georgiev-Atanasov, 43, was also sent to trial in the same case, for complicity in drug trafficking. He allegedly helped Nikolov to transport the 51 kg of cocaine to Romania.

The investigation in this case started in October 2011 when the Romanian Police started the investigation after finding out that several people, unidentified at that time, were allegedly involved in trafficking large amounts of high-risk drugs, namely cocaine, from South America, through Romania  and then to countries in Western Europe.

European arrest warrants were issued on the name of the two defendants on February 5, 2013.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com