North Macedonia’s police said they have uncovered an organised criminal group responsible for illegal logging that caused damage worth MKD6.4bn (around €104mn), with 15 people arrested in a large-scale operation carried out on September 18-19.

The action, coordinated by the Department for Suppression of Organised and Serious Crime together with several specialised units and under the leadership of the prosecutor’s office, targeted locations in Berovo and Pehcevo in the eastern part of the country.

Searches uncovered €185,000 in cash, MKD318,000, hunting rifles, ammunition, telephones and documents linked to the crimes.

Those arrested include officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and the state company National Forests' subsidiary Maleshevo, along with private individuals involved in logging and timber transport.

According to investigators, the group illegally cut down around 1.5mn cubic metres of wood, devastating some 6,000 hectares of forest. The scheme involved both legal and illegal logging, supported by forged documentation and facilitated by corrupt officials who accepted bribes to enable the circulation of timber.

On September 19, the Financial Crime Unit filed charges against all 15 suspects and one legal entity for crimes including criminal association, deforestation, bribery and abuse of office. The case marks one of the largest forest crime operations in the country in recent years.