Montenegro Forms Special Team for Mareza House Case
Police say more than 50 foreign nationals were found in a rented house in Mareza, and the seized equipment had to be hauled away by truck.
What Montenegrin police carried out of a rented house in Podgorica’s Mareza neighborhood did not fit into a single service vehicle, so it had to be loaded onto a truck. On August 11, 2026, the Police Directorate of Montenegro gave its first official account of what was found inside the property a day earlier: more than 50 foreign nationals, several hundred digital devices, and a large amount of cash. For readers in Serbia the story sits closer than it looks, since the team that took over the case includes a group for international operational cooperation, and police have yet to establish on what basis these people were staying and working in Montenegro.
Most of those found are citizens of Ukraine, with citizens of Moldova and Slovakia also among them. The house where they were found had been rented. According to the statement, officers entered the property lawfully, and a search followed.
A search was carried out along with detailed documentation of the situation found, as well as the equipment, devices and other material relevant to the further course of proceedings.
That wording is standard for statements of this kind, but what followed the search was not. The scale of the equipment found was such that a truck had to be brought in to haul it away, and the photo of sacks loaded onto it became the only visual trace the public was given.
Who Is Running the Case Now
The head of the Police Directorate set up an operational task force, and its makeup says a lot about how the case is being treated before a single claim has been made public. It brings together officers who specialize in cybersecurity and high tech crime, financial investigations and money laundering, international operational cooperation, and foreign nationals and migration. Support comes from the National Security Agency (ANB), and further steps are being coordinated with the competent state prosecutor’s office.
Made up of several groups of police officers specializing in cybersecurity and high tech crime, financial investigations and money laundering, international operational cooperation, and foreign nationals and migration affairs, with strong support from the National Security Agency.
When a police force puts people from four different specialties on one team and adds a security agency on top, that signals the case is not being treated as a residency violation. The review covers the legal basis for these people’s stay and work, their activities and movements, and the purpose and use of the equipment that was found.
What Police Are Still Not Saying
What is missing is the most important part: what the equipment was actually being used for. The Police Directorate stated explicitly that it cannot release further details at this stage, so as not to jeopardize the ongoing inquiry, and said the public will be informed of the outcome once the proceedings allow it. The origin of the cash found, and any link it might have to activities at the house, are also still under review.
So for now only three things are confirmed: the number of people, the contents of the house, and the makeup of the team investigating them. Everything beyond that is speculation, and in cases like this, speculation tends to prove costly.
Why It Matters for the Region
Montenegro is a candidate country for European Union membership, and the chapters on judiciary and home affairs are the most sensitive part of its accession talks. A case in which foreign nationals without an established basis for work intersect with sophisticated digital equipment and cash lands squarely in that territory, and Brussels will read it more closely than it would a routine police operation.
For Serbia the relevant part is different: if it turns out that the activities at the Mareza house had a branch outside Montenegro, the review runs through the group for international operational cooperation, which means an exchange of data with police forces in the region. The next official update will come only once the planned police and prosecutorial actions are complete, and no date has been announced for that.
