TThe area around the town of Petrich in southern Bulgaria, next to the Greek border, once again confirmed its fame as Bulgaria’s cannabis heartland. For several days in mid-August police raided villages around Petrich, whose remote location and warm weather have proven a fertile ground for marijuana-
growing.

News agencies were reporting busts day after day but the biggest find came on August 19, when it was announced that police had seized a ton and 200 kg of the plant, grown near the villages of Palat, Kromidovo, Yavornitsa and Dragoush. Most of this was already harvested, police said. The 1200 kg of cannabis added to the 200 kg found near Petrich on August 17.

This was not the first time Petrich police had uncovered such big quantities of cannabis. A year ago, about 1600 kg of partially dried cannabis plants were found in the Petrich-region village of Gabrene. During that particular raid, police found almost 2000 kg of cannabis.
In most cases the owners of the fields used for cannabis-growing were elderly people over the age of 60. When questioned by TV crews, they usually claimed to be unaware that what they were doing was illegal.

According to various media theories, which police have so far failed to prove, the old folk are entrusted with growing cannabis by people who supply the seeds and later harvest the plant. The area around Petrich is one of the country’s poorest and the money earned from this activity makes people agree readily. Most villages are in remote mountain areas with a thin police presence. This allows cannabis growers to do their business almost inconspicuously.

Although police have problems identifying the people behind the scheme, they have experienced some success in countering it. One of the most notable cases is that of priest Kiril Papoudov, 67, who has three pending charges against him for growing cannabis on his land in Kladentsi village. He was given a three-year suspended sentence. During one of the seven investigations against Papoudov, which showed that he was growing cannabis worth 22 878 leva, a 73-year-old woman living with Papoudov, was handed an 18-month suspended sentence and a 50 leva fine. This made the woman the oldest drug dealer in Bulgaria.

When Papoudov was asked by private national channel bTV about the cannabis, he said that at first he did not know that growing it was illegal and he was told that he could make good money out of it. Another excuse was that he was growing it for medical purposes.

The bTV report became even more amusing after the woman living with Papoudov said that she accepted blame for the last cannabis haul found in his house because she was madly in love with him. Her only worry, however, was not the 18-month suspended sentence but that she could not pay the 50 leva penalty. Papoudov’s answer, was that she need not worry because failing to pay the fine would have no repercussions and that interest on it was negligible anyway.