Usce Mall: Three from Vracar Gang Arrested Over 20,000 Euros
Police and the Security Information Agency arrested three suspected Vracar gang members last night at Belgrade's Usce mall, catching them as they collected 20,000 euros extorted from a victim.
Three men suspected of belonging to the so called Vracar gang were arrested last night, September 9, at the Usce shopping mall in Belgrade. They were taken into custody at the exact moment they were collecting 20,000 euros from the victim, identified only as V.P., money police believe the group had extorted from him. The operation was carried out jointly by the Service for Combating Organized Crime (SBPOK) and the Security Information Agency (BIA).
According to the Telegraf portal, which cites its own sources, the operation unfolded in the evening, in a window between 7:39 and 8:11 p.m. Operatives kept the suspects under close observation, the outlet reports, until the marked cash actually changed hands. Only then did police and BIA officers move in and put handcuffs on the three men.
The Alo portal, reporting on the arrest based on unofficial information, adds a detail about how the operation played out. One of the suspects, according to those sources, entered the Usce mall to carry out the handoff while the other two waited outside. Once the money was handed over, a coordinated intervention followed: one man was arrested inside the mall itself, and the other two were picked up outside.
“The moment the money changed hands, the operation began and the suspects were handcuffed,” a source close to the operation told Alo.
Throughout the run up to the handoff, security service operatives tracked the movements of the three men and waited for the moment to strike. Alongside SBPOK and BIA, the operation also involved officers from the Department for Operational Analytics (OPA), the Service for Coordination and Operational Affairs (SKOR), the Technical Directorate, and the Sector for Special Police Operations and Enforcement (SSPDR).
The suspects are for now charged with extortion. Until a final verdict, they remain suspects, and their identities have not been officially released.
Under the procedure that normally applies in such cases, an arrest is followed by questioning at the relevant police station, after which the suspects are brought before the competent prosecutor. During the preliminary proceedings, the prosecutor’s office decides whether to request detention, which at this stage can last up to 30 days. As of this report, neither step had been officially confirmed for the three men arrested at Usce.
Media had already been using the name Vracar gang for the suspects before this arrest, in connection with earlier reporting on extortion cases across Belgrade. Neither Telegraf nor Alo, however, cites an official account of who formally leads the group or how many members it has, so that claim cannot currently be verified beyond what the two outlets have reported.
What about the other suspects?
Based on available information, the investigation does not end with the three men already arrested. Police are still searching for other individuals suspected of taking part in the extortion of V.P. or of providing logistical support to the Vracar gang. Authorities, according to both outlets, are now reviewing the full extent of the arrested men’s roles and all the circumstances surrounding the extortion of the 20,000 euros.
As of publication, the Interior Ministry (MUP) had not issued an official statement on the arrest. Telegraf published the story, noting it was based on its own sources, on the evening of September 9, shortly after the operation itself. Alo published details of how the arrest unfolded the following morning, September 10 at 7:35 a.m., also citing sources familiar with the operation rather than an official one. Until the prosecutor’s office or MUP issues a statement, the account of how the operation unfolded remains based on the unofficial reporting of the two outlets that first broke the story.
