Serbian Man, 25, Arrested in Zagreb Over Planned Contract Killing
Zagreb police stopped a murder arranged through a messaging app; a Serbian national was caught in a hotel room with a loaded pistol.
- Zagreb police arrested a 25-year-old Serbian national in a hotel room in the Tresnjevka district.
- Officers found a loaded pistol with a magazine and seven rounds of ammunition on the suspect.
- According to police, the killing was arranged through a messaging app, and the intended target was not named.
- A criminal complaint was filed for illegal possession of a weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, with the suspect remanded in custody.
Zagreb police said they had prevented a planned killing that was, according to investigators, arranged through a messaging app. A 25-year-old Serbian national was arrested on May 27 after being found in a hotel room with a loaded pistol.
The arrest took place in Zagreb’s Tresnjevka district. Investigators say the suspect had entered Croatia illegally a few days earlier and was carrying no identity documents. The intended target of the planned murder has not been disclosed.
What did police find in the hotel room?
During the search, officers recovered a loaded pistol fitted with a magazine and seven rounds of ammunition. The serial number on the weapon had been partially removed, a detail investigators are examining closely.
The suspect held no identity papers. He provided police with details about his identity and how he had crossed the border on his own account.
“The man had no identification documents on him and told police he was a 25-year-old Serbian national who had entered Croatia illegally a few days earlier,” Zagreb police said.
According to police, the agreement to carry out the murder was reached through a messaging app. That method, in which the person ordering the hit and the would-be executor connect through encrypted messages, has become an increasingly common pattern in contract-killing cases across the region.
What is the suspect charged with?
A criminal complaint was filed against the 25-year-old for illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit a crime. These are two separate grounds handled within the same case file.
The court ordered the suspect held in custody. At this stage of the proceedings he is presumed innocent until any guilt is established by a final court ruling.
The investigation continues, and authorities are expected to examine who commissioned the killing, who the target was meant to be, and whether the suspect acted alone or as part of a wider network. No other people have so far been named in the case.
Arrests of this kind raise the question of how far messaging apps have become a tool for organizing serious crime. Do you think tighter weapons and border controls would stop attempts like this one?
