Serbia Scents Trouble as Truffle Wars Reach Murderous Level

Serbian Gendarmerie police will strengthen their patrols in the area of Sremska Mitrovica, in the northern Vojvodina province, as conflicts between locals looking for lucrative and highly prized truffles risk getting out of control, the Interior Ministry said.

According to a Thursday press release, Minister Aleksandar Vulin met Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Branislav Nedimovic, Mayor of Sremska Mitrovica Svetlana Milovanovic and Chief of the Police in Sremska Mitrovica Djuro Mandic on Wednesday.

"Thefts, robberies, racketeering, street violence, all those crimes that have mostly damaged citizens, must receive the full vigilance of the police," said Minister Vulin, adding that Sremska Mitrovica had always been a safe town and must remain so.

He spoke after two brothers, Predrag and Stanislav Jelicic, were killed in a suspected truffle war on Sunday, December 6, in the village of Jarak, near Sremska Mitrovica.

Local media said the police had since arrested two brothers, Dejan and Nebojsa Eric, from the same village, suspecting that their conflict broke out over competing searches for the elusive delicacy.

The newspaper Vecernje novosti reported that a court in Sremska Mitrovica had ordered the brothers into custody while probes continue.

Boris Ivancevic, from the Natural Museum in Belgrade, told Radio Television of Serbia that the area of truffle hunts was "not sufficiently regulated, the existing laws are not sufficient, and even they are not implemented properly".

"Most of the truffle trade in Serbia goes through illegal channels," he remarked.

"There are now a really large number of searchers, already counted in the thousands, although it is difficult to say [how many] because there...