Police officers from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) have arrested one person in Banja Luka on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of “Illegal Trafficking in Weapons and Military Equipment and Dual-Use Products”, SIPA announced.
SIPA carried out the arrest by conducting operational activities on the order of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The person deprived of liberty will be handed over to the further jurisdiction of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina after criminal processing and questioning as a suspect.
During the search of residential and auxiliary premises and movable property used by a person deprived of liberty, SIPA police officers discovered and temporarily seized 43 hand grenades, including hand grenades with a black plastic body and hand grenades with a green metal body, 50 TNT bullets weighing 200 grams each, 20 TNT bullets weighing 200 grams each in a plastic casing, four TNT bullets weighing 100 grams each, 61 pieces of electric detonator caps, a mobile phone with improvised PVC-coated wires and a detonator cap installed, two pieces of explosives, a PPSh assault rifle marked “EC 455” with its accompanying frame and 40 7.62 mm caliber bullets, three assault rifles with its accompanying frames, a PASP military rifle with optics and a corresponding frame and silencer, a hand-made PAP-ovka firearm, a GSM pistol, caliber 7.65 mm with its accompanying frame and eight bullets, one thousand rounds of 7.62 mm military ammunition, 294 rounds of 5.56×45 ammunition, a roll of slow-burning fuse about 1.20 meters long, two 20 mm anti-tank bullets and other items that may serve as evidence in further proceedings, the statement said.
SIPA points out that the unauthorized possession, concealment and trafficking of military weapons represents one of the highest and most dangerous threats to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because these are assets whose very existence outside the control of the state creates a constant, unpredictable and systemic threat.
“These weapons are not only dangerous at the moment of use, but by their very existence they create a latent threat to the lives of citizens, public order, constitutional order and international security. Their illegal concealment and offering on the market seriously violates the fundamental principle of the rule of law, excluding the legitimacy of the state over the means of force and opens up space for the most serious forms of crime, including terrorism, organized crime and mass violence. Due to their destructive potential, the impossibility of control and the unpredictable consequences that can occur in a very short period of time, this phenomenon requires an urgent, decisive and comprehensive institutional response,” SIPA said.
According to the results of the investigation so far, the aforementioned military weapons, explosives and other equipment were intended for further sale and smuggling into European Union countries, with the aim of obtaining illegal material gain.
SIPA continues to work on establishing all facts related to the aforementioned criminal offense, as well as working on preventing all forms of crime, with special emphasis on the unauthorized trade in weapons and military equipment and dual-use products, the statement said.
