CUSTODY PROPOSED FOR DCPB POLICE OFFICER SUSPECTED OF ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN NARCOTIC DRUGS

Having questioned the suspect in the presence of his attorney, the assigned Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina put forward a Motion with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, seeking that a measure of custody be ordered in respect of the following suspect:

-          Miloš Popovac, born in 1996 in Ilidža, employed as a police officer with the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies (DCPB) of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The measure of custody has been proposed for reasons as stipulated in Article 132, paragraph 1, items b) and c) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, due to the danger that, if at large, the suspect might hinder the inquiry, conceal evidence and influence witnesses or accessories, as well as due to the danger that he might repeat or complete the criminal offence.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the police of the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of the Interior and other partner agencies and institutions in the country and abroad, is conducting an extensive investigation into this suspect, who is charged with acting as part of an organized network for smuggling and illegal distribution of narcotics, in the course of which, inter alia, he abused the official authority given to him by giving up a police uniform and equipment for the purpose of committing criminal offences.

He is suspected of acting as a member of an organized criminal group which was smuggling, hiding, transporting and distributing speed, marijuana and cocaine narcotic drugs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia and other EU countries.

The measure of custody has been proposed due to the ongoing extensive investigation into a larger number of suspects in this case, in order to ensure the unimpeded completion of the investigation in this case.