Mayor of Northwestern Village of  Galiche Detained

Sofia, May 26 (BTA) - The mayor of the Northwestern village of Galiche, Tsenko Chokov, has been detained for 24 hours, along with 11 other people including his son, in a raid Thursday by the Chief Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime.

The raid is part of an investigation into an organized crime group involved in extortion and arson which active in the village and which suspected to be headed by Chokov.

Forty-seven searches were performed of people on search warrants issued by the Specialized Criminal Court. Money, documents for the purchase of real estates, powers of attorney by or in the name of Chokov were seized.

Chokov become notorious years ago for taking the law in his own hands and for using violence to have his own rules in the village. An extensive catalogue of Chokov's "exploits" through his decades in the mayor's office includes flogging two thieves tied to a pillar, beating fellow villagers, setting on fire property of political opponents and fraudulent acquisition of property. The mayor has never been sentenced for any of these.