Task Force in a Single Weekend: 20 Arrested, 680 Kilos of Marijuana in Strumica and Cocaine Found on an 18-Year-Old

Three days, 13 cases, 20 people deprived of their liberty. That is the weekend tally of the Interior Ministry's Task Force, which between 2 and 4 October operated across several interior affairs sectors and regional border affairs centres. Among those detained are two foreign nationals, one from Poland and one from the Czech Republic.

The biggest hit was in Strumica. There, police found and seized 59 marijuana plants weighing about 680 kilograms in total, and in a separate case a large travel suitcase full of marijuana. In Skopje, eight bags with around 800 grams of marijuana were seized from three locations used by one person.

In Veles, a house search turned up 29 small bags with a total of 15 grams of cocaine, 14 grams of a brownish substance and around 5,000 euros. The Department for Combating Organised and Serious Crime searched four locations: two people were detained, and around 200 grams of cocaine, 505 millilitres of hash oil and 4.58 grams of marijuana were seized.

One case stands out. A criminal complaint was filed against an 18-year-old from Skopje after two packages of a white, lumpy substance were found in the building where he was staying in Singelikj. Ministry forensics determined it was 198.46 grams of cocaine.

The ministry calls these "concrete results" and promises even more intensified operations. It is good that police are working on the ground. But will we ever read an equally detailed statement about who organises the trade - and not just who carried the drugs in the suitcase?