Three engineers working in an arms factory have been arrested in Serbia on suspicion of spying for a "foreign organisation", the Interior Ministry said.
The three suspects are former or current engineers at Krusik, a state-owned factory based in Valevo, about 80 kilometres southwest of Belgrade, which produces defence-related equipment, weapons and ammunition.
According to some reports, Serbia has exported ammunition that has ended up in Ukraine via third parties - something Belgrade has never confirmed.
The suspects committed criminal offences "by removing confidential commercial and technical documentation from this company without authorisation and handing it over to a foreign organisation," police said.
According to the police, their actions were "detrimental to the security, defence, military and other interests, as well as to weaken the authority of the Republic of Serbia".
The arrest was coordinated with local police and military and internal intelligence services in cooperation with the prosecutor's office in Valevo, the statement said.
The suspects may be detained initially for 48 hours and will be handed over to a prosecutor, the police said.
Back in 2019, another engineer, Aleksandar Obradovic, spent several weeks in custody and under house arrest after claiming that Krushik sold weapons to Saudi Arabia at low prices through the company of the then interior minister's father. | BGNES
