Police investigate the crime scene in Constantia where Bulgarian crime boss Krasimir 'Karo; Kamenov, his wife and two other people died of gunshot wounds on Thursday 25 May. Photos: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach and Interpol
Waking up to birdsong and sipping on an expresso while admiring one’s well-manicured lawn is what one would expect of a typical morning in Cape Town’s leafy suburb of Constantia. For wanted Interpol Bulgarian crime boss Krasimir “Karo” Kamenov, his wife and bodyguard, Thursday 25 May however took a bloody turn just after 8am in their Evergreen Lane home.
No one in the house was spared in what is believed to have been a hit related to Kamenov’s links to the ruthless Bulgarian underworld of organised crime. The couple’s housekeeper also paid the highest price for coming to work amid heavy downpours lashing the city.
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Kamenov’s three children were at school when the cold and calculated murders took place.
According to Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut, the motive for the multiple murders, which took place at 8.20am, are still unknown.
Traut further said Serious and Violent Crime Unit detectives have initiated an investigation.
TimesLIVE reported that Kamenov, whose hands were cable-tied, was shot at point-blank range while the other deceased were all bound with their hands cuffed behind their backs.
According to Euroactiv, Kamenov was a notorious figure in the former Bulgarian crime syndicate VIS-2, which held considerable economic and political sway before Bulgaria became a member of the European Union (EU) in 2007.
The syndicate also “specialised” in extortion, car theft and drug trafficking.
In April, Kamenov earned himself a place on Interpol‘s wanted list with a red notice for extortion, as well as his suspected involvement in the murder of former Bulgarian police boss Lubomir Ivanov, who was shot dead in Sofia in March 2022.
According to BNT, Kamenov was also being investigated for links to more murders, including that of VIS boss Meto Ilienski.
He was also recently implicated in a large-scale plot to discredit senior magistrates, including Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev.
Geshev commented on the news of Kamenov’s killing with the words:
“For the past two years the prosecutor’s office has been saying what is happening now is that we are returning to the ‘mutri’ (thugs) years as a result of the war against the judiciary, the attempts to control the judiciary and the deliberate destruction of institutions in the interests of perhaps what the Bulgarian citizens call organised crime, mafia, oligarchy. I will not use stronger words.”
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