On Thursday, September 19, the investigation into the pager explosion case involving Hezbollah in Lebanon has expanded to include Bulgaria and Norway. The operation aims to determine who provided thousands of pagers to Hezbollah.
Earlier this week, thousands of military and organizational members of Hezbollah were targeted in remote detonations of pagers and walkie-talkies, resulting in at least 37 deaths and 3,000 injuries.
According to sources familiar with the security agencies, Israel is believed to be responsible for the explosion. Israel has not directly commented on the incident yet.
It is currently unclear how the pager attacks were carried out and with whose assistance. So far, clues suggest a connection between the pagers and companies in Taiwan, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The Taiwanese company has denied any involvement with bomb pagers.
Furthermore, it remains unknown how and when these pagers were weaponized for remote detonation. The explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkie devices used by Hezbollah in the second wave of attacks on Wednesday raises similar questions.
One speculation is that these pagers were intercepted and rigged with explosives after leaving the factory. Another possibility is that Israel orchestrated the entire deadly supply chain.
Bulgarian authorities announced on Thursday that the Ministry of Interior and the national security departments have initiated an investigation into a company’s potential involvement. They did not disclose the name of the company under investigation.
Local media reported that Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd facilitated the sale of pagers to Hezbollah. National broadcaster bTV cited security agency sources reporting that €1.6 million related to this deal was transferred through Bulgaria to Hungary.
Reuters analyzed images of the destroyed pagers and found that their format matched those produced by Taiwan’s Gold Apollo company. Gold Apollo stated that the pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting, located in Budapest, Hungary.
Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the owner and CEO of BAC Consulting, told NBC News on Wednesday that her company collaborated with Gold Apollo but had no involvement in the production of pagers. She stated, “I’m just a middleman. I think you have the wrong person.”
However, she moved out of her Budapest apartment on Wednesday.
Hungarian news site Telex reported quoting sources that the sale of pagers was facilitated by Norta Global Ltd in Bulgaria.
Norta’s Bulgarian headquarters were registered in an apartment building in Sofia, but the company is now missing.
Vladimir Kuzmanov, the company’s lawyer, declined to answer questions during an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
Norta Global’s website was deleted on Thursday. The website previously had versions in English, Bulgarian, and Norwegian, promoting services such as consultation, technical integration, recruitment, and outsourcing.
The company’s founder, Rinson Jose, resides in Norway. When contacted by reporters, he refused to comment on the pagers and hung up when asked about business in Bulgaria.
Amund Djuve, the CEO of DN Media where Jose currently works, informed Reuters that he is aware of the information and has alerted the police and security agencies. He mentioned that Jose is traveling to the United States.
Norwegian police stated that they have initiated a “preliminary investigation into the exposed information.”
PST, the domestic intelligence agency in Norway, confirmed they are aware of the situation and declined further comments.
There is no evidence suggesting a connection between DN Media and Norta.
A source within the Lebanese security agency informed Reuters that Hezbollah believed they ordered pagers from Gold Apollo, and these pagers were produced in Asia, not in Europe.
However, the source added that Hezbollah also believed it would be much easier for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, to operate in Hungary.
“The Mossad could have established a European company,” the source said.
(This article is based on reports from Reuters)