Carjacking in the Sarajevo area significantly declined in the past months, according to the Sarajevo police. Experts claim this is the result of an intensified investigation into the death of two police officers, who were killed last year in what appeared to be a car theft

A police officer was shot dead in late October last year in the Alipasino neighbourhood, while his colleague succumbed to severe injuries he suffered during the shooting.

Unknown perpetrator(s) shot the police officer after being discovered in what looked like a car theft in the Sarajevo neighbourhood.

The perpetrator(s) identity remain(s) unknown to date.

Experts say that the ongoing investigation and intensified police controls made the auto-mafia pull the handbrake for a while.

For the time being it seems to be “unpopular” to deal with this sort of crime, according to Jasmin Ahic, a professor of the Sarajevo Faculty for Criminology and Security Studies.

Official statistics say that 51 car thefts were reported over the past few months in the last and the first month of 2019. Only in November 2018, a month after the shooting and death of two policemen, the number of car thefts dropped by 21 compared to the same month in 2017.

They mostly target luxury cars and operate as a group.

“They worked in groups in a way where one of them approaches the car, the second stands guard and the third one opens it. Those are masked persons holding long guns. According to the information we have, they target expensive cars and are very dangerous,” said Suvada Kuldija, spokesperson for the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior.

Available statistic data also show that some cars have been found and returned to their owners.

“The police indeed increased the activities and criminal underground has been shaken by that,” according to Sarajevo Canton Interior Minister Admir Katica.

However, despite the positive trend of preventing the carjacking, Sarajevo Canton remains an absolute leader in the country in the number of stolen cars. The vicinity of entity border with Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity – where competencies of Sarajevo police end, go in favour of the criminals and give them time to finish what they start.

To be one step ahead of the thieves, the Sarajevo Canton police plans to intensify cooperation with Republika Srpska agencies and announces a much stronger clash with so-called auto-mafia.