Five held as North Macedonia police find marijuana and cocaine
Police in North Macedonia detained five people in separate drug checks on 31 October and 1 November 2026, including two German nationals stopped at the Tabanovce border crossing with marijuana. The Interior Ministry said marijuana, cocaine and brown powder were found at locations including Skopje, Bogovinje, Ohrid and Idrizovo prison.
🇲🇰 Tabanovce, Skopje, Bogovinje, Ohrid and Idrizovo, North Macedonia
- Arrested
- 5
Police in North Macedonia detained five people at various locations on 31
October and 1 November 2026, the Interior Ministry said, after marijuana,
cocaine and brown powder were found and seized.[1] At the Tabanovce border
crossing, officers detained D.P.H., 43, from Germany, after marijuana was found
in his personal luggage as he entered the country at 1:10 PM on 31 October.[1]
S.M., 37, also from Germany, was detained at the same crossing at 4:00 PM after
marijuana was found in the Opel camper van with German plates he arrived in.[1] Both were handed over to a police station for further proceedings.[1]
In Skopje’s Centar area, police detained T.I., 35, from Štip, after marijuana
was found on him.[2] At Idrizovo prison, officers searching four convicted men
found and seized 54 packets of brown powdered substance.[2] On the local road
between Bogovinje and Selce Kec, police found cocaine on E.A., 37, from
Bogovinje, who was detained and held at a police station.[2] In Ohrid, C.V.,
18, from a village near Struga, was detained at 2:40 AM on 1 November after
items with traces of marijuana were found on him.[2]
The ministry said appropriate charges would be filed against the individuals
once the cases were fully documented.[3]
Sources
- Marijuana, cocaine, and powdered substances were found at multiple locations across the state. Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, 1 November 2026.
- Пет лица лишени од слобода или приведени во одделни случаи со дрога низ државата. Нова Македонија, 1 November 2026. In Macedonian.
- Марихуана, кокаин и прашкасти материи пронајдени на повеќе локации, приведени пет лица. Сител Телевизија, 1 November 2026. In Macedonian.
Open questions the AI reported
- No weight or quantity was published for the marijuana, cocaine or brown powder; only the 54 packets found at Idrizovo prison were counted.
- The five detentions took place on 31 October and 1 November 2026; the report is dated 1 November, the second day and the date the ministry published the bulletin.
- The five detained include one man held over cocaine alone, so the arrest figure covers the whole police roundup, not cannabis cases only.
- The ministry did not identify the brown powder found at Idrizovo prison or say what happened to the four convicted men searched there.
- No charges had been filed and no court dates were reported; the ministry said appropriate charges would follow.
- Only the ministry statement and two Macedonian outlets repeating it were found; no independent reporting was located.
- No photograph or video of these specific checks was identified; the page's image is a generic police photograph of cannabis, white powder and handcuffed wrists captioned with the headline, so no media entry is given.
