January 25, 2018
The STA reports January 25, 2018 that the Dragonja border crossing with Croatia was closed down for three hours on Thursday due to a bomb scare after police found what turned out to be a fake explosives belt and a knife on a Croatian coach.
During a routine check on the coach, a police officer found a black belt with what looked like rolls of explosive under the seat of one of the passengers, reporters were told at a news conference in Koper.
The man, a 22-year-old Croatian citizen, who also had a long knife on him, was apprehended, Dean Jurič, head of the Koper criminal investigators told reporters.
Suspecting that the object stashed under the man's seat was an improvised explosive device, police evacuated the bus and closed the border crossing, evacuating the staff.
However, an examination showed that the ten cylindrical rolls, which were wrapped with adhesive tape and wired up, were in fact empty cans.
The coach carried two drivers and eight passengers en route between Croatia's Pula, Italy's Trieste and Slovenia's capital Ljubljana.
Jurič said that the 22-year-old did not resist arrest and cooperated in the procedure. Hailing from Poreč, he told the police he was travelling to Ljubljana.
The man remains in police detention on suspicion of abusing hazard and aid symbols, a crime which carries up to five years in prison.
Jurič said that the focus of their inquiries was the suspect's motive and where he was headed.
Although he has not been interviewed yet, Jurič would not rule out the possibility he had been preparing an actual explosive device.
Unofficial information indicates that the suspect does not have a criminal record in Croatia.
