illegal. Prazina was known to first demand some form of authorization, then threaten a debtor and, if still receiving a negative response, use various forms of violence to force payment. In all this, Prazina developed a sophisticated network of around 300 armed "collectors" under his control. He wielded great power through this enterprise: in early 1992, after being shot during a pit bull fight, doctors at Koševo hospital were hesitant to perform the necessary operation due to the great risk involved. In response, Prazina's small army besieged the hospital and forced the surgeons to attempt the job. Although a bullet remained (causing him to have a limp and reduced range of motion on his left hand for the rest of his life), Prazina ultimately survived and continued his activities. By the time the Yugoslav Wars were underway, Prazina had been arrested and jailed five times, and was a well-known figure in Sarajevo's underworld. Siege of Sarajevo Rise to power Following the start of the siege of Sarajevo, Prazina set out with his gang to defend the city from the attacks of the VRS (or "Chetniks," as he called them). Rapidly swelling his numbers, by May he was able to gather some 3,000 men outside the city's Druga Gimnazija high school (in the neighbourhood where he grew up on Sutjeska Street) and declare their intention to "defend Sarajevo." Juka's Wolves, as the group was called, were thoroughly armed with sawed-off shotguns and AK-47s (provided in part through a connection with the Croatian Defence Forces), and uniformed with crew-cuts, black jump-suits, sunglasses, basketball shoes, and sometimes balaclavas. They were split into a number of locality-based factions, each under the direct control of one of Juka's close confidants but ultimately responsible to the central base ran by Prazina himself. In contrast to all this (and due to a variety of factors, including a pre-war policy that strove for a peaceful resolution and an international arms embargo), the central government under Alija Izetbegović and its formal army was relatively unorganized and unprepared. Because of this, the assistance of well-armed groups such as Prazina's private army in the city's defense was welcomed, and their pre-war criminality overlooked in light of their apparent willingness to fight for a united and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prazina played an integral role in defending Sarajevo during the early days of the siege. His forces cleared the streets of Serb