Seven From Kraljevo Arrested Over Arilje Safe Theft
Seven people from Kraljevo, including two minors, were caught carrying a safe from a currency exchange in Arilje; police link the group to over ten thefts in four towns.
Seven people from Kraljevo, including two minors, were arrested as they were carrying a safe out of a currency exchange office in Arilje. The operation was carried out by the Criminal Police Directorate and the Service for Combating Crime of the Ministry of Interior (MUP), working alongside police departments in Kraljevo, Cacak and Krusevac.
The arrests followed an order from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Uzice and the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Pozega. Police say there are grounds to suspect the group committed multiple counts of aggravated theft.
The adult suspects are identified by the initials F.B. (26), S.R. (48), A.S. (45), T.M. (43) and H.S. (46), all from Kraljevo. Two minors were also taken into custody; police have not disclosed their ages.
The suspects’ birth years, as reported by the outlet Kurir, match the ages given: F.B. was born in 2000, S.R. in 1978, A.S. in 1981, T.M. in 1983, and H.S. in 1980. The exact addresses of the exchange offices hit in earlier thefts, along with the dates those thefts took place, have not yet been made public.
Who are the suspects and what are they charged with
The group is accused of carrying out more than ten aggravated thefts, all using the same method. According to police, the suspects would rush into a currency exchange office, grab the safe and flee before anyone noticed.
Police say that pattern played out across four towns: Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Cacak and Krusevac. In the most recent case, in Arilje, the suspects were caught in the act, still carrying the safe out of the exchange office.
Footage of the arrest, released to media through the Interior Ministry’s server, shows members of the Criminal Police Directorate’s special unit taking the suspects down to the ground. The group did not resist when they were caught.
What’s next for those arrested
The adult suspects have been ordered held for up to 48 hours. Once that period ends, they will be brought before the competent prosecutor along with a criminal complaint. The prosecutor will then decide how the case proceeds, including whether to request pretrial detention.
No information has been released about the two minors’ ages or how their cases will move forward. Under Serbian criminal law, minors are handled under separate rules that provide for different measures and a different procedure than those applied to adults. For that reason, their identities have not been disclosed.
All suspects are presumed innocent until a final verdict is reached. At this stage of the proceedings, authorities are only describing grounds for suspicion, not proven guilt, and the initials F.B., S.R., A.S., T.M. and H.S. could change as the investigation continues, should the prosecution release different information.
The more than ten aggravated thefts across four towns, all carried out using the same method, suggest investigators believe the group had been operating for some time before the Arilje raid led to their arrest. The Interior Ministry has not yet released the exact timeframe of the thefts or the total value of the stolen property.
Based on how similar cases have unfolded in the past, those details will likely surface in a further statement from the prosecution, or in an indictment if the investigation leads to one. What is certain for now is that the investigation by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Uzice and the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Pozega ended with the arrest of the entire group at the moment of the last theft it is accused of, not afterward, based on reports of earlier cases.
