The Bureau for management with seized property, which normally distributes vehicles and other goods taken away from criminals, awarded a van to a mosque in the village of Aracinovo near Skopje.

The head of the Bureau Driton Nebiu, who is ethnic Albanian, bragged online that he gave a Citroen van to the mosque, declaring that “Aracinovo is not a forgotten village and our care for its citzens is continuous, we will not stop with this”.

Aracinovo is notorious as a center of organized crime and drug running, as a no-go zone where police units and bill collectors are often not welcome, and by its role in the 2001 war – the mosque itself is named Resistance. This Bureau typically gives the property it manages to state institutions, and not to religious organizations.