Police and Prosecution Action in Central and Southern Regions – Five Persons Arrested So Far for Arson and Endangering Public Safety; Three Crimes Clarified – One Crime Prevented

Officers of the Police Directorate – Sector for Combating Crime, the Regional Security Center "South," and the Regional Security Center "Center" – in cooperation with basic public prosecutors' offices in Bar, Kotor, and Podgorica, conducted a multi-day coordinated operation that clarified three criminal acts – arson on property of injured persons, explosive devices, and incendiary cocktails, as well as other crimes prepared by the suspects. The competent public prosecutor at the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Kotor stated that the actions of these persons contain essential elements of the criminal offense of serious crimes against general safety, in conjunction with the crime of endangering public safety committed in joint participation. Officers from the Bar Police Department also found and seized a hand grenade near the railway station in Bar, suspected to have been discarded by the suspects during the commission of a crime against D.I. The authorized prosecutor ordered detention for these persons in police facilities, then referred them to the investigating judge of the Basic Court in Bar, who issued a decision to remand them in custody for up to 30 days, after which they were transferred to the UIKS in Podgorica. Police officers from the Podgorica Police Department, during a search of the apartment and other premises used by one connected person, found and confiscated a Zastava pistol, an Ecol starter pistol, two drug grinders, pepper spray, and a handheld radio. Based on operational and intelligence data, the Police Directorate suspects that these five persons detained were responsible for executing and planning crimes ordered by members of a high-risk organized crime group, whose destructive activities will be targeted by law enforcement agencies.