14:03 Wed 27 Dec 2006


Human trafficking and drug smuggling were epidemic in Bulgaria and Romania, Reuters news agency said.

Thousands of women, some of them aged only 13, are kidnapped or tempted with offers for well-paid jobs, and sold into prostitution to human-trafficking gangs every year.

Poverty and disappointment with the slow pace of reforms in Bulgaria and Romania were only helping criminal gangs 'flourish and find easy victims.'

Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession endangered even a greater number of women as trans-border access would be easier, Reuters said.

Bulgaria and Romania were among the 11 countries in UN's list of 'sources of human trafficking,' Reuters said. The list was based on reported numbers of victims.

According to Reuters the geographical location of Bulgaria and Romania aggravated the problem. The two countries were part of the 'Balkan route' of heroin trafficking from Afghanistan. As much as 80 per cent of Afghani heroin was transported through the Balkan route.

Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession raises worries that the "illicit trade that plagues the Black Sea region" will spread into the EU.

The two countries said that they were doing what they could to fight organised crime, but EU was unsatisfied with Bulgaria 's results, Reuters said.