Interior Minister: Sofia GPS jammer may have targeted aircraft

There is evidence that a powerful GPS jamming system discovered by the authorities in Sofia was used to interfere with aircraft, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said, as quoted by BTA. Available information suggests the device had been operating for more than a year. Part of the equipment had been dismantled, but the components recovered were sufficient to establish that it was a high-powered system, Demerdzhiev said.

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According to the minister, the device belongs to companies linked to businessman Razmig Chakaryan, known by the nickname Ami. Chakaryan has been linked to Hristoforos Amanatidis, known as Taki. Investigative journalists have alleged that the two controlled various activities at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint.

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“For a long time, not only did no one dare investigate these circumstances, but there was also a police patrol stationed opposite the establishment,” Demerdzhiev said, referring to a Sofia venue searched in connection with the jamming device. “It is high time people understood that those days are over. We are also awaiting recordings from another device seized from a house near the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint,” he added.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova