15 ARRESTED, 150 KILOGRAMS OF DRUGS AND 83 LITERS OF AMPHETAMINE OIL SEIZED

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 11 /SRNA/ - Federation police arrested 15 people in the Sarajevo and Zenica areas on Wednesday and seized about 150 kilograms of drugs and 83 liters of amphetamine oil.

The arrests were made in an operation codenamed "Vrtlog" /Whirlpool/, carried out in Sarajevo Canton, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Central Bosnia Canton and Republika Srpska.

Officers of the Federal Police Administration /FUP/ and the Zenica-Doboj Canton Interior Ministry, working with the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH, carried out the joint, coordinated operation aimed at combating organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, the FUP said.

The operation was conducted under the supervision of the Special Department for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime of the Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, on orders from the FBiH Supreme Court.

The 15 people arrested, from the Sarajevo and Zenica areas, are suspected of organized crime, illegal production and trafficking of narcotics, and money laundering.

Searches of people, homes, outbuildings and vehicles turned up about 58 kilograms of a substance believed to be cannabis, about 39 kilograms of a substance believed to be amphetamine, and 83 liters of amphetamine oil. Once processed further, the oil could be used to produce an estimated 600 to 700 kilograms of amphetamine. All of it was temporarily seized.

Police also found and temporarily seized several firearms, including pistols, a large number of mobile phones, equipment for weighing and packaging drugs, and other items that could be linked to the offenses.

The suspects will be taken to FUP premises for questioning and then handed over, along with a criminal complaint, to the Special Department for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime of the FBiH Prosecutor's Office.

FUP officers, working with the relevant police and judicial institutions, are continuing to take further measures to document the offenses and establish all the circumstances related to the activities of the suspects.