Konfererenz Tourismus against crime and corruption

Western Balkan countries join efforts to fight organised crime

16/12/2009

A recent joint sting operation underlines the effectiveness of a united regional front against crime and corruption.

By Jusuf Ramadanovic for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 16/12/09

The arrest of the Elez crime group resulted from co-operation between the police forces of Serbia and BiH. [AFP]

Late last month, Serbia's Special Prosecution Office filed an indictment against Bosnian gang leader Darko Elez for a number of crimes. He and five others are charged with extortion, drug trafficking, illegal possession of arms, document forgery. Elez faces the additional charge of inciting murder.
The indictment also charges the six with assisting those wanted by the police to escape from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to Serbia. An investigation in BiH is under way, though the group has not yet been formally charged. Bosnian officials are co-operating with the Serbian authorities.
Police detained Elez and his cohorts in September. The operation against one of the best-organised criminal gangs in the region resulted from months of co-operation between the police forces of Serbia and Republika Srpska, according to Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.
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Setimes

Arrests over drowning of illegal immigrants

16 December 2009 | 14:57 | Source: Beta

PRIŠTINA -- Kosovo police, KPS, arrested seven human trafficking suspects in connection to the October drowning of 16 people in the Tisa River. The group tried to illegally cross the border between Serbia and Hungary when their boat capsized. Of the 16 victims, 15 were ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. According to the Albanian language media in Priština, KPS cooperated with EULEX police, but also with "Hungarian and Serbian police" to identify the suspects. Those arrested come "from the regions of Priština, Peć, Gnjilane and Kosovska Mitrovica", Beta news agency reports