ZAGREB, November 22, 2018 - Croatian police have busted a five-member criminal ring charged with having ordered a large quantity of hand guns and weapon parts online from the USA, which arrived in Croatia under false declarations at the address of the criminal ring's alleged organiser. The weapon smugglers are four Croatians aged 42, 63, 59 and 34, and a 31-year-old Dutch national, the Ministry of the Interior has said.

The USKOK anti-corruption agency has said that the five persons are under police investigation for the unlawful possession, production and procurement of weapons and explosives.

In the period from early 2018 to November 21, the suspects formed a criminal ring in the area of Split-Dalmatia County and Zagreb to acquire illegal gain by continually buying large quantities of firearms and weapon parts in the United States and selling them on the black market in Croatia.

The arms thus procured were falsely declared as car and motorcycle parts or toys.

The ring involved a postal customs official who made it possible for parcels with hand guns or their parts to avoid customs control.

The Ministry of the Interior has said that three of the suspects have been placed in custody, one, a 31-year-old man, is currently beyond the reach of the police, while one has already been in investigative custody on the charge of holding large quantities of arms and ammunition as well as a large quantity of money in his home.

The Ministry of the Interior said that during its investigation into the case it had cooperated very well with the police forces of the USA and Great Britain, as well as with the Croatian Customs Administration and the Croatian Post.

For more on the activities of Croatian police and the fight against weapon smugglers and other forms of organised crime, click here.

ZAGREB, October 3, 2018 - A parliamentary debate on a bill on firearm possession on Wednesday went off on a tangent, focusing on "historical topics", after Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) MP Stevo Culej said that "every able-bodied Croat in areas bordering with Serbia should have a firearm within their reach," with Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP Nenad Stazić retorting that Culej was making fascist statements.

Croatia had its representative among all the Russian-produced weaponry.

The largest exporter is HS Produkt from Karlovac.

The Ministry reacted to recent media reports about sale of weapons to Syria through Saudi Arabia.

There are allegations that Croatian weapons ended up on Syrian battlefields.

The Foreign Minister says that he has no information.