Infamous drug lord and former wrestler generally known as Bulgaria’s “cocaine king” surrenders after years on the run

Fugitive Bulgarian drug lord Evelin Banev, wished in a number of European nations, surrendered to legislation enforcement authorities early Monday, the inside ministry mentioned.

The previous wrestler — dubbed Bulgaria’s “cocaine king” — had been sought since 2018. Ukrainian authorities caught him in Kyiv in September 2021 however refused to extradite him on the grounds that he had acquired Ukrainian nationality.

His whereabouts had been unknown since then.

“I can verify that round 7:30 am this morning Evelin Banev ‘Brendo’, who has been declared internationally wished, surrendered voluntarily. Police will switch him to jail authorities,” inside ministry spokesman Mitko Dimitrov advised AFP.

An internet video uploaded on social media by the flagman.bg information web site confirmed Banev and his lawyer Petar Zafirov strolling to the central jail within the Bulgarian capital metropolis of Sofia.

“Mr. Banev exhibits as much as serve a punishment that has been imposed on him in step with a sentence that is closing,” Zafirov advised the reporter.

Banev, 59, sporting a gray baseball cap, solely mentioned “After all” when the reporter requested him if he realized what he was doing.

Banev fled after being sentenced in 2013 in Bulgaria to seven-and-a-half years in jail for cash laundering. The sentence was lowered to 6 years on attraction.

After he was sentenced, his then 10-year-old daughter was kidnapped outdoors her home within the capital Sofia, the BBC reported on the time. She was ultimately freed and left close to a police station in Sofia, Sky Information reported.

Banev has been the topic of an Interpol pink discover since 2013.

Banev was additionally wished by Romania the place he was sentenced in absentia to ten-and-a-half years for drug trafficking.

In late 2017, he was additionally sentenced to twenty years in jail in Italy for smuggling as much as 40 tons of cocaine from Latin America between 2004 and 2007 and supplying the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.

In 2022, a former Bulgarian tennis participant with alleged ties to Banev was discovered responsible of cash laundering in Switzerland, the BBC reported. Prosecutors mentioned that Elena Pampoulova, who labored at Credit score Suisse, had constructed a casual monetary relationship with Banev and he or she allegedly collected baggage “full of money” from individuals recognized to the wrestler. Pampoulova died final 12 months on the age of fifty.