Bulgaria Detains Suspect in Beirut Port Blast Case Ahead of Extradition to Lebanon
Jerusalem, 16 September, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) Bulgaria’s Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office (SCP) has detained a citizen of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Cyprus with the initials I.G., wanted by a red notice from the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization Interpol, for extradition purposes, the prosecutor’s office announced on its website.
The announcement of the man as wanted through Interpol channels was made at the request of the Lebanese judicial authorities on the basis of an arrest warrant issued on September 29, 2020. I.G. is wanted in connection with crimes he may have committed – importing explosives into Lebanon, a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people, disabling machines with the intention of sinking a ship. The Lebanese authorities have confirmed the request for an international search and detention of I.G.
Lebanese media identified the suspect as Igor Grechushkin, a Russian-Cypriot national and owner of the Rhosus, the freighter that transported explosives-grade ammonium nitrate into Beirut in 2013. The cargo exploded in 2020, killing 218 people, injuring another 7,000, and devastating the Lebanese capital. Lebanon’s investigation has faced repeated political interference and years of delays. Hezbollah was implicated in the blast, but nobody was ever convicted.
By a decree of a prosecutor from the Supreme Court of Justice, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office was assigned to organize the implementation of the procedure under the Extradition Act and the European Arrest Warrant, namely to provide a defense lawyer and interpreter for the detained person and to submit a request for his temporary detention to the Sofia City Court.
The Sofia City Court has ordered I.G. to be temporarily detained for a period of up to 40 days – a measure confirmed by the Sofia Court of Appeal.
During the period of temporary detention, the competent authorities of Lebanon should provide the Supreme Court with the extradition request and accompanying documents, as well as translations under the bilateral extradition treaty between Bulgaria and the Lebanese Republic.
In early August, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun marked the fifth anniversary of the explosion with a renewed commitment to seeking justice, saying that accountability remains a top priority for the Lebanese state, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.
