In a large-scale police operation conducted this morning, 50 suspects were arrested for extorting money from contractors in the construction field. The operation, called "Guardians of the Shadow", included raids on dozens of locations across the country, involving about 500 police officers and border police fighters. The suspicion is that criminal elements forced contractors to pay high amounts for security services that were not provided, using threats against their property. Among the arrested is also a sitting mayor in the north, suspected of managing one of the security companies involved in the case.
The investigation, which lasted about ten months, was conducted in cooperation with the state attorney's office and moved to the public phase this morning. The police suspect that those involved operated a systematic extortion mechanism, presenting themselves as security service providers, but in fact did not provide the promised services. The suspects were transferred for investigation at the coastal police's serious crimes unit and the national police, and the police intends to request their detention extension in court.