A decision to that effect was made by County Court Judge Dusko Tisma after interviewing seven suspects whose 48-hour detention expired this morning.
The eighth suspect, an attorney from Rijeka who was not remanded in custody upon being arrested, was not interviewed due to health problems he reported this morning. He will be questioned subsequently and the judge will decide whether to remand him in custody.
All eight persons were arrested in downtown Rijeka last Thursday around noon in a coordinated operation in which the intervention police also took part.
The police had been watching some of the suspects for a number of months due to suspicion that they had extorted more than 300,000 euros from one man. The police had also found out that some of the gang might be influencing witnesses in another case.
After the arrests, one police officer and one notary public have been suspended, according to unofficial reports.