FACEBOOK Self-proclaimed migrant hunter Dinko Valev was arrested as he toured the borders

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Border protection guards in Bulgaria have been blasted for allegedly targeting a vigilante group rounding up illegal immigrants instead of focussing on the refugees. The group was organised by self-proclaimed bounty hunter Dinko Valev, 29, who leads his ten-man patrol either on horses or in armoured vehicles looking for illegal immigrants. But after snatching passports from a group of refugees from Afghanistan, the group were instead arrested. In the latest incident, the Organisation for Protection of Bulgarians (OZBG) managed to find 23 migrants with passports from Afghanistan as they toured the border.

They called to notify border guards, but when border police arrived they were more interested in the vigilantes rather than the potential breach of border controls. The incident was recorded on video where a voice can be heard saying: "We were on patrol and we caught 23 migrants with Afghanistan passports. "We are 11 together with the TV crew from the programme 'No one's land'. "Now we are waiting for the border police to come. Long live Bulgaria!"

CEN Valev first hit the headlines after he posted a video of him arresting 11 migrants

"Bulgaria needs people like me, dignified Bulgarians, willing to defend their homeland." Dinko Valev

But when the border police arrived, they arrested the OZBG men and held them for an hour and a half. An OZBG spokesman said: "Without warrants, the police requested our documents. "They began to ask us questions about who we are, where we are from, what we are doing here. "They checked our documents, while they ignored the migrants.

"They did not ask the illegal immigrants for their documents or search them for weapons. "The interest of the border police was entirely aimed at OZBG." The organisation has demanded answers from the local police chief about their "illegal" arrest and detention. They said it was only at the end that the police showed any and interest in the migrants, who were loaded onto a truck and moved away from the area.

Valev first hit the headlines after he posted a video of him arresting 11 migrants and forcing them to lay on the ground. Since then he has gathered local men for his "army", which he claims he set up to protect his fellow Bulgarians from the migrants. In an interview with the BBC, he said: "Bulgaria needs people like me, dignified Bulgarians, willing to defend their homeland."

CEN The troop often travel in amoured vehicles such as this one