Five From Skopje and Kumanovo Detained in Tents at Galicnik, Drugs Found

A police operation in Galicnik, in tents at the spot known as "Stopance". Five people were detained, and several packets of marijuana, a white powdery and lumpy substance, hallucinogenic mushrooms and pills were found in the tents and seized.

The operation lasted a little over an hour - from 7.20pm to 8.45pm on 4 September. It was carried out by officers from the Gostivar police department and the Mavrovo police unit. Those detained are A.J. (32), M.M. (38), K.S. (45) and V.V. (44), all from Skopje, and R.T. (38) from Kumanovo. All five are being held at the Gostivar police station.

The age profile is what sets this story apart from a standard police bulletin. These are not teenagers at a festival. These are people between 32 and 45, camped in one of the best-known mountain villages in the country.

Galicnik is not just any village. It is a mountain settlement in the Mavrovo area whose Galicnik Wedding is a recognisable brand beyond the borders too. That tent camping there ends in a police search and seized drugs says something about the terrain itself: a place that on some days of the year is a tourist showcase, and on others - somebody's quiet, unwatched upper floor.

The interior ministry says an appropriate charge will follow once the case is fully documented. That is the standard formulation and it means everything known today is an allegation, not a verdict. The description itself says as much: "a white powdery and lumpy substance" is what the police saw, not what has been established that it is.

What is worth holding on to from the whole story is not the operation but what preceded it. Five people from two cities were camping in Galicnik with a quantity that required searching five tents. The question no bulletin asks is how many such nights happen up there before anyone comes to check.