A 41-year-old convicted drug trafficker and Bulgarian national was arrested at his home in Cape Town by the SAPS National Intervention Unit (NIU) on Friday morning.
According to police, Stanislav Stamenov was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment in Romania in 2009 but fled the country shortly after.
This was after he was found to be part of a large criminal organised group involved in the trafficking of Heroin into Romania.
According to SAPS Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, it’s believed that Stamenov was hiding in Cape Town for several years, where he was working as a gym instructor in several well-known fitness clubs.
He was placed on an Interpol red notice, which is a global search request to law enforcement agencies across the world for assistance in apprehending a fugitive.
Mathe says following his arrest by NIU this morning, he is detained and will appear before the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court for his extradition matter on Monday.
READ MORE: Spanish national fined R500k for illegal reptile trafficking in WC
