Five detained in Skopje-region operation; weapons and ISIS flags seized

Five people were detained yesterday in a coordinated law-enforcement operation in the Skopje region targeting a radical group with alleged terrorist links that also operated as an organised criminal gang, authorities said. The operation focused on suspects suspected of loan-sharking, illegal trade and violent acts.

Specialized units, the secret service, the Agency for National Security and the police carried out the raids under the direction of a prosecutor from the Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption. Searches and interviews were still under way when the prosecutor's office issued a brief confirmation.

Evidence recovered at more than ten locations

According to preliminary information, searches at over ten locations turned up multiple items of automatic weaponry, handguns, knives and flags belonging to the radical group ISIS. Investigators also found several computers used for cryptocurrency mining.

Among those arrested is a resident of the Čento neighbourhood who, authorities say, has been on the security services' radar for roughly 15 years because of his radical activities. The five detainees will be questioned as the probe continues.

The Public Prosecutor's Office said it will release further details once searches and interrogations are completed. For now investigators are continuing forensic and evidentiary work at the sites and processing the seized material.

Photo: press material from the event