Police officials this week are applauding a team of detectives at the 114th Precinct Squad for the method they used to nab a “Bonnie and Clyde” team of thieves who pulled off multiple burglaries in the Astoria area.

“The detectives realized the suspects were dangerous and they had to put them out of business as quickly as possible,” a highranking Queens cop said. “They smoked them out and got them off the street as quickly as possible.”

Law enforcement sources said the detectives linked Eldin Ahmetovic, 33, and his female accomplice Yulia Bushuyevu, 32, to more than a dozen burglaries in Astoria in a six-month period beginning in June 2011.

The pair eluded capture until the detectives released their photos and details of the crimes to the media. The press immediately flooded airwaves, TV news and newspapers with the information, urging New Yorkers to help locate the suspects.

“It was brilliant strategy. The NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline started ringing off the wall with people who were sure they had seen these two suspects.

“People called in as confidential informants, and even their own parents and family members called with tips on where the detectives might find them,” law enforcement sources said. “The plan worked, and word reached Ahmetovic that the cops were closing in.” Ahmetovic knew it was over when he walked into the 114th Precinct on December 21 and surrendered to the detectives, the sources said. “He had nowhere to run.”

Ahmetovic, who was charged with seven of the 12 burglaries in the pattern, told detectives where to find Bushuyevu. “They tracked her down within hours, arrested her and charged her with three of the 12 burglaries and criminal possession of stolen property – for items found in her possession that were taken during one of the burglaries,” law enforcement sources said.

Police said Ahmetovic and Bushuyevu were both homeless and had been living on the street for months prior to their arrest.

“Detectives use the NYPD hotline all the time to help locate suspects,” the sources said. “What’s different here is the fact that these detectives purposely saturated the media with details and photos of these suspects, so that everywhere the suspects went, they saw their own faces.

“It was a solid plan that got two very dangerous people off the street,” law enforcement sources said. “These detectives deserve a lot of credit – and a large thank you from the community.”

As of this issue’s printing, Ahmetovic was released on $100,000 bail at his arraignment at Queens Criminal Court. Bushuyevu was remanded on a separate immigration matter.