Around 300 Alphas (members of Skopje police) rounded up 23 people in Kocani and Vinica, in the wee hours on Sunday night. Few others are on the run.
Residents of these smaller eastern Macedonian towns hailed the action of the police.
"This is strange to say, but when news spread on Sunday that police arrested the individuals that everyone feared and were protected by higher ups in the police here, one could feel a joint sigh of relief by the entire city" says a Kocani resident.
The Alphas are famous for their work throughout the country, and have made well over 5,000 arrests since the police unit was formed several years ago.
Even the opposition was surprised to find out that police arrested the husband of a current VMRO-DPMNE MP from Kocani, Elizabeta Kuzmanovska.
On her part, Kuzmanovska stated that she was not aware of what her husband was doing, however if he did something wrong that she wasn't aware of, he just like everyone else will face his day in Court. Needless to say, the Prime Minister will need to re-evaluate Kuzmanovska's role in the party.
Kocani and Vinica residents claim that the sole reason why their cities and others in eastern Macedonia had not had any investments is because of the individuals who got arrested on Sunday.
"No coffee shop owner was safe in our city. Nobody wanted to expand their business because of constant racketeering and threats on business owners. Kocani police let them do whatever they wished. Thankfully, the head of the police retired two months ago, so we hope to see a real policeman in charge," says a local business owner.
The criminal network in Kocani was extremely elaborate. Police never pressed any charges against local criminals, tax collectors didn't collect any taxes while corrupt judges turned a blind eye to what was happening. What raised eyebrows among the Skopje police is the fact that local gas station and shop attendants were instructed to contact their crime bosses as soon as they spotted "suspicious" policemen that weren't local.
Crime bosses in Kocani set up a "security agency" which established a 'security fee' for all shops in the city at 30-50 euros a month. Those who refused to pay the fee had their cars set on fire, shops demolished... until they paid the fee.
Heroin was dealt to local youths, sometimes openly in shops. The criminals even illegally set up lottary shops. As their power grew, they expanded to Kriva Palanka, Makedonska Kamenica. Police in each city was unable to do anything about it.
Police bosses in Skopje became aware of the situation few months ago and had inserted moles within the group. After enough material evidence was gathered, it was decided on a swift action dubbed "Detonator" on April 1st, during the April Fool Day carneval. The large carneval had provided a cover for the police to enter Kocani without being noticed by informants whose job was to warn the crime bosses of any outside police presence.
Police bosses in Skopje stated that although 23 people were arrested initially, the number may increase at least three fold as they gather more evidence of everyone involved in covering their crimes and offering police protection.
Currently police in Kocani, Vinica, Kriva Palanka has been taken over by officials from Skopje.
