Most Extensive Indictment Against 27 Members of Auto Mafia: Stole 200 Cars Worth Millions

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption has filed the most extensive indictment to date against an organized criminal group, whose members are charged with organized crime related to car thefts, smuggling and further sale, altering identification marks, extorting ransom or dismantling into parts for further sale, mostly of expensive motor vehicles stolen from citizens in Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the BiH Prosecutor's Office announced.

- The accused members of the organized criminal group come from both BiH entities, and the investigation in this case was conducted over a longer period, together with police officers from SIPA, the RS Ministry of Interior, with a special contribution to the investigation and evidence collection made by police officers from the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior and the BiH Border Police. During the investigation, evidence was collected that the accused acted according to precisely determined and divided roles and tasks within the structures of the so-called “auto-mafia”, and over a longer period, mostly during the night hours, using specialist tools and equipment, armed and masked, using radio stations tuned to police frequencies to monitor police movements, they committed thefts of high-value passenger motor vehicles, most often in the area of Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo, Tuzla Canton and West Herzegovina, and according to collected evidence, committed the theft of at least around 200 vehicles, whose market value reaches an amount of several million KM - it is stated.

As explained, after the theft, the vehicles were hidden at prepared concealed locations in the area of Sarajevo, Lukavica, Pale, Sokolac and other places, after which the vehicle owners were contacted and ransom was extorted from them, and if it was not realized, further forgery of documentation was carried out, as well as smuggling and further sale of the vehicles in BiH or regional countries, or their dismantling and sale in parts.

The indictment describes in detail the execution of car thefts, attempted ransoms and other illegal actions in more than 200 individual cases, which are charged against the accused.

- In this way, great damage was caused to BiH citizens who own the stolen vehicles, who were deprived of large sums, as well as damage to legal entities engaged in vehicle and property insurance. This investigation by the Prosecutor's Office and partner security agencies has certainly prevented the commission of a larger number of criminal acts, and the fight against auto-crime structures is very important from the aspect of citizen safety and the rule of law, because in the Sarajevo Canton area alone, an average of 2 car thefts are recorded almost every day.

The Prosecutor's Office will prove the allegations of the indictment by calling 340 witnesses and expert witnesses and submitting several hundred pieces of evidence.

The accused are:

Danilo Cicović, born in 1977 in Sarajevo
Vladimir Krsmanović, aka “Krša”, born in 1978 in Sokolac,
Marko Trifković, aka “Žižan”, born in 1978 in Sarajevo,
Srećko Trifković, born in 1985 in Sarajevo,
Srećko Mandić, born in 1983 in Sarajevo
Slaven Dakić, aka “Žućo”, born in 1988 in Sarajevo,
Tomislav Petrović, aka “Tomo”, born in 1988 in Sarajevo,
Njegoslav Milinković, aka “Ljutan”, born in 1983 in Sarajevo,
Bojan Košarac, aka “Čavra”, born in 1991 in Sarajevo,
Enis Mandal, born in 1983 in Skopje,
Miroslav Pajić, born in 1988 in Sarajevo,
Sreto Pajić, aka Srećko, born in 1991 in Sarajevo,
Davor Ninković, aka “Čupo”, born in 1980 in Sarajevo,
Jozo Markić, born in 1983 in Mostar,
Puniša Purković, aka “Puki”, born in 1964 in Sarajevo,
Dalibor Vasković, aka “Dado”, born in 1980 in Sarajevo,
Miroslav Škobo, aka “Miki”, born in 1983 in Sarajevo,
Mirsad Brkić, aka “Miki”, born in 1964 in Sarajevo,
Zoran Mirjanić, aka “Sušika”, born in 1981 in Sokolac,
Bojan Stašević, aka “Staša”, born in 1982 in Sokolac,
Milorad Mirković, aka “Miko”, born in 1989 in Sarajevo,
Zoran Čobović, aka “Čobo”, born in 1979 in Sarajevo,
Nikola Radić, born in 1988 in Sarajevo,
Branislav Gordić, aka “Ćelo”, born in 1966 in Sokolac,
Miroslav Čepo, born in 1966 in Grude,
Goran Nižić, aka “Arafat”, born in 1978 in Ljubuški,
Ferdo Vukoja, born in 1974 in Grude.

The indictment has been forwarded for confirmation to the Court of BiH.