SIPA arrests five persons for arms smuggling in BiH, Serbia and Germany

Upon the order of a prosecutor from the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, police officers of SIPA deprived a total of 5 suspects of their liberty within the framework of an operation code-named „Lift“, reports the Patria news agency.

This meticulously designed and planned operation was carried out with searches of facilities, premises and vehicles used by the suspects, and a larger quantity of weapons, ammunition and other military equipment intended for the illegal arms market was found and seized. These items were smuggled in the territory of BiH, Serbia and the Federal Republic of Germany, supplying perpetrators of various criminal acts with weapons, thereby posing a great danger to the general safety of citizens in BiH and abroad.

The suspects are under investigation and are suspected of having acted as an organized group during 2015, carrying out organized smuggling of weapons (mostly pistols), as well as ammunition and military equipment, the possession and procurement of which is under no circumstances permitted for civilians and citizens.

They are charged with acting as an organized group, on several occasions organizing the smuggling and sale in BiH, as well as smuggling to the territory of Germany, of a larger quantity of weapons, mostly pistols, as well as ammunition and other military equipment, which they sold to persons known to them on the illegal market.

The suspects are charged with committing the criminal offense of unauthorized trafficking in weapons, ammunition and dual-use products.

After operational processing by SIPA, the suspects will be handed over to the prosecuting prosecutor who will examine them and decide on further activities regarding the suspects.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH is undertaking intensive activities in the fight against international smuggling of weapons, ammunition and explosives, which criminal structures use in the commission of criminal acts, and in these activities it cooperates with police and security structures of the countries of the region and the EU, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH announced.