"Police seizures of illegal goods have resulted in debts, which are being settled through murders," said the minister.
"This is nothing strange. It's normal that people owe each other money and since they can't pay, they settle it this way," he said commenting on the recent murder of Lulzim Krasniqi, which the media speculated was a mob killing.
Police chief Marijan Benko said, however, that the Krasniqi murder could not be labelled as a mob killing until the case was solved. He added the case was very demanding.
Commenting on claims by people close to Krasniqi that they would take the law into their own hands if the police failed to solve the case, Benko said the police would keep a close eye on those people.