Police in the South African city of Johannesburg say thirteen Bulgarian citizens have been arrested on charges of theft.

A police spokeswoman Inspector Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said the thirteen men, aged between twenty and thirty, were believed to be members of a nationwide crime syndicate.

She said luxury cars, guns, computer equipment and false identity papers were seized during the raids.

A Bulgarian diplomat in Johannesburg Charge d'affaires Christo Yordanov later told the BBC nine of the detained men were released for lack of evidence while the other four were put under criminal investigation. He said that in a separate incident two years ago two Bulgarian citizens were sentenced to long jail terms for car theft.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service