FBIS4-54904 "dreeu088cc_94001"
FBIS-EEU-94-088 Daily Report 14 Apr 1994
INTER-EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

Austrian Police Arrest `Yugomafia' Leaders

Austrian Police Arrest `Yugomafia' Leaders 94BA0257B Trieste REPUBLIKA in Slovene 14 Apr 94 p 4 94BA0257B Trieste REPUBLIKA Slovene CSO [Article by Igor Schellander: "Blow to the `Yugomafia'"] [Text] Splendid success by the Austrian police; 35 individuals and the leadership of an organization headquartered in Belgrade arrested; further proceedings under way. Vienna--The Austrian police have succeeded in a decisive blow against part of the organized crime operating from Austrian territory. At a news conference, representatives of the Group for the Struggle Against Organized Crime [EDOK], a special section within the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs, reported the arrest of 35 individuals and the leadership of an organization that was named the "Yugomafia" in official jargon. With indictments, the Austrian security authorities have initiated proceedings against 150 other individuals. In connection with this, Director for Public Security Michael Sika revealed that the state authorities had managed to obtain concrete evidence of the organized activity of the so-called Yugoslav mafia for the first time. Both the head of the international criminal network--33-year-old Zajim Sabanagic--and most of the captured members are former Yugoslav citizens from Serbia. The goal of the well-organized gang was to acquire and cash in on monetary funds that were derived primarily from the theft of credit cards and bank checks, dealing in drugs, automobiles and weapons, and protection rackets. The Yugomafia's network, according to the Austrian detective, was professionally organized and commercially well-concealed. The theft of credit cards and bank and traveler's checks (they found 1,500 checks worth 3.5 million schillings) was organized abroad. For that purpose the gang--its cooperation with Italian and South American organized crime was very close--employed a real army of South American pickpockets. The members of the "Serbian syndicate" handled the exchange and sale of the stolen means of payment in Austria. A bank robbery in Milan is also attributed to the gang. With the aid and cooperation of colleagues abroad, the Austrian detectives came across the trail of thefts and diverse other criminal activities by the gang throughout Europe. International warrants have been issued for two other members of the organization's leadership, 36-year-old Ratko Bjelobaba and 28-year-old Goran Sojic. The monetary funds accumulated by the "Yugomafia" at its Vienna headquarters did not improve the lifestyle of its members in only nonessential ways. A large part of the criminally acquired monetary loot found its way to Belgrade--the funds were also intended to finance the war in the Balkans. In connection with this, one circumstance during the questioning of the syndicate's head was eloquent: It was only when the Austrian police officials threatened, of course as a joke, that they would send the confiscated money to Bosnia that Sabanagic became "cooperative" and yielded some information. The damage caused by the syndicate's activity is estimated at 100 million schillings. The successful operation by the Austrian security authorities will probably be included in a collection of exemplary and illustrative documentation at European Interpol.