Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has hailed the Government's success in tackling crime, Bulgarian media reported on July 26 2010.

According to Tsvetanov, a total of 1269 wanted criminals have been identified since GERB came to power last year. Of those, 209  were "ring leaders or heads of organised criminal contingents". To date, 46 have been arrested, another seven are under house arrest, two of them are on parole, 15 have been sent to prison and two are the subject of a nationwide search, the report said.

Tsvetanov also noted an increasing number of crimes registered and solved by the authorities in the past 12 months under GERB.

There were 854 pre-court proceedings and 606 charges tabled. Tsvetanov said that according to latest information, there are currently 179 organised criminal groups operating in Bulgaria, most of which specialise in drugs' distribution.

"Drugs is one of Bulgaria's problems and a curse of our society," Tsvetanov said, cited by Focus news agency.

The police have been "tough and effective" against organised crime groups but it will also target conventional crime.

During the news conference, Tsvetanov also said that the authorities would continue to adopt the same hard-line approach against organised crime, regardless of the consequences. The statement of defiance came just days after news emerged of an alleged assassination plot against Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov.

"What is important here is that we are on the right track against serious organised crime in the country, and hopefully we will also achieve better results against conventional crime," Tsvetanov told bTV.

Authorities arrested about 20 people on July 23 in what Tsvetanov called "Operation Killers". Raids conducted nationwide targeted criminal groups specialising in assassination, the Interior Ministry said.

Talking to Bulgarian television channel bTV, Tsvetanov said that the police operation had struck organised crime at its "highest level".

The large-scale operation conducted by the authorities involved raids on more than 30 addresses across the country, including the Sofia borough of Gotse Delchev, as well as the towns of Cherven Bryag, Sozopol, Kiten, Varna and Samokov, the Interior Ministry said.