Constantia killings: Bulgarian crime boss, wife, domestic worker shot execution-style

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.

ALSO READ: Four Bulgarian nationals found murdered in Constantia

Kamenov’s three children were at school when the cold and calculated murders took place.

Bulgarian crime kingpin shot at point-blank range

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.  

Central figure of the Bulgarian underworld: Who was Kasimir ‘Karo’ Kamenov?

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.

Return to ‘mafia years’

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.”

ALSO READ: Bulgaria ex-Prime Minister released after extortion probe arrest

Bulgarian crime underbelly of Cape Town

• In February 2018, a Bulgarian couple was gunned down in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Bergvliet. The husband was facing charges related to a credit card fraud syndicate.
• In 2021, three Bulgarian nationals were sentenced to 60 years imprisonment after being arrested with bricks of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R580 million, in Saldanha Bay, north of Cape Town.