USKOK arrests 11 in video piracy crack-down

The anti-corruption agency USKOK and Croatian police said Tuesday that they had arrested eleven people on suspicion of selling pirated video packages - illegal access to online audio-visual content. 

This crack-down was carried out in coordination with Europol, and police in the UK, Italy and France are also involved. It is suspected that damages, in Croatia alone, amount to around two million euros.

The round-up took place in Split-Dalmatia, Zagreb, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Požega-Slavonia and Istria counties. After the suspects are questioned, a decision will be made on the next steps, USKOK said on its website.

"It is difficult to assess the extent of the fraud because this is clearly a sweeping case not just here in Croatia but on the international level. Several other counties carried out similar sweeps today. It is all being done in cooperation with EUROPOL. Right now, the damages figure in Croatia is nearly 2 million euros. However, this is just the beginning of this investigation. We'll see where it goes,” said Interior Minister Davor Božinović when asked for comment.