Europol tackles unsolved 1996 gangland murder in Germany

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europol is mobilising teams to try to solve the 1996 gangland murder of a criminal from the former Yugoslavia who was found shot dead in Germany, the pan-European police force said on Tuesday.

The cold case concerns Nenad Gajanovic, whose body was discovered in a German town in August 1996 next to a stolen red vehicle riddled with bullets.

Europol, headquartered in The Hague, said Gajanovic was "involved in criminal circles" and known to authorities over burglaries in northern Germany.

German police in the Cloppenburg-Vechta region and Europol are seeking the public's help in solving a case "with links to serious organised crime", Europol said in a statement.

"Despite extensive investigations over the years, the identity of the suspect(s) remains unknown," it said, and authorities hoped new information from the public could finally resolve the case.

There was a surge in organised crime in the Balkans during the ethnic wars that followed Yugoslavia's break-up in the 1990s as the region became flooded with weapons and drugs.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Mark Heinrich)