For years, Montenegro has been mentioned as one of the main channels for transporting cocaine from South America to Western Europe, and one of the ways is recruiting Montenegrin and other sailors to smuggle the drug to the next place in the smuggling chain for a certain sum on the ship they sail on.
"Montenegro suffers the greatest damage due to the criminal activity of cocaine smuggling, which is carried out by several dozen criminals of Montenegrin origin around the world, some of whom are not even Montenegrin citizens", it is written in "Assessment of the danger of serious and organized crime in Montenegro". , a recent document of the Police Administration.
The document adds that "criminal groups from the Western Balkans most often hire Montenegrin, Serbian and Croatian citizens employed in international shipping companies to transport cocaine from South American ports to the EU as seafarers on ocean-going ships."
"This is done most often by sailing on the company's container ships..., or being thrown out as staff on large... cruise ships in the Mediterranean in ports or into the sea in the coastal zone along the Adriatic coast, where local criminal groups await him in smaller boats. "Specialists in some groups are specifically in charge of recruiting, scheduling and boarding seafarers on the desired shipping lines. The quantities generally range from 50 to 500 kilograms," the UP document says.
A Montenegrin sailor, employed on a large transoceanic cargo ship, claims that two years ago in the Port of Cabello in Venezuela, he had an offer to smuggle cocaine.
"I could have made good money, but at that moment I told him I wasn't interested because it crossed my mind that it wasn't worth risking my life and the life of my family for money," said the seaman, whose name is known to the newsroom.
"He said that no one would be suspicious if I hid the cocaine in one of the ship's cavities or where I think they won't find it, and that he would later tell me when and where another person would pick up the shipment."
He added that at first he thought it was an acquaintance.
"Given that it was dark, I didn't see his face well at first. When he got close enough, he told me in Spanish that he had a business offer for me and that I could make good money if I accepted it. He said that works for powerful people who have connections with the Colombian cartel, who smuggle cocaine by ship to Europe," said Crnogorac.
He added that the young man with a local accent told him that he knew which ship he was sailing on.
"He also mentioned some of my friends and it was clear that he didn't run into a stranger. He took out a large sum of bolivars from his pocket and said that it could be mine if I did an "errand" for them and smuggled a few kilos of cocaine to Spain. He said that no one would be suspicious to hide the cocaine in one of the ship's cavities or where I think they won't find it and that they will tell me later when and where another person will pick up the shipment," said the sailor.
He said that in those moments he was overcome with fear.
The selling price of cocaine on the local market in Montenegro ranges from around 80 to 100 euros per gram and 30 to 40 thousand euros per kilogram.
The man tried again to convince him to change his mind by showing him the money, after which he gave up and left in an unknown direction. The seaman said that he never saw that young man again and that a few months later he changed the ship and the company where he worked.
"Now I'm sailing on a smaller ship and since then I haven't had similar offers," said the seafarer.
The police administration believes that due to the widespread network of contacts at key points, where criminals originating from Montenegro are engaged to organize part of the smuggling and distribution of cocaine, as a result of a "failed" deal, mistake or fraud that occurred in Brazil, Spain, the Republic of South Africa or Senegal , can be violence against members of groups or close associates on the territory of Montenegro.
"This violence is mainly directed towards certain individuals from organized crime, with the motive of revenge, debt collection or discipline, so the problem is limited to the criminal population. Although limited, this problem is not easy to remove, reduce or prevent violence from happening, because most often the causes, i.e. the driving mechanism, are located outside the borders of Montenegro," the document states.
The selling price of cocaine on the local market in Montenegro ranges from around 80 to 100 euros per gram and 30 to 40 thousand euros per kilogram.
Domestic Liaison Officers in Brazil, Spain, Netherlands and Turkey
The police administration proposes a solution to the problem of cocaine smuggling.
"In order to solve the problem with the international dimension of cocaine smuggling, which creates a political-diplomatic problem for the state in international relations, it is necessary to invest additional efforts to increase the intensity of the targeted collection and exchange of intelligence data with foreign countries on a relatively small number of persons originating from Montenegro, who are involved in dealings with cocaine".
According to UP, it is necessary to intensify the collection of intelligence data on the activities of "known" domestic criminals and their associates abroad using the diplomatic-consular network and stronger contacts with the Montenegrin diaspora; intensify the delivery of intelligence data to foreign partner services for the enforcement of the law on the connection of our citizens and persons originating from Montenegro with international cocaine smuggling operations.
In order to better control the targeted collection of intelligence information abroad and more efficient direct exchange with partners, the UP proposes to build a network of Montenegrin police liaison officers in Brazil, for the area of South and Central America and the Caribbean, the Republic of South Africa, for the southern and West Africa, Spain, for South-West Europe and North Africa, in the Netherlands, for North-West Europe and the Nordic countries, in Turkey, for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Middle East.
"In the short term, this way of working is relatively financially demanding (expensive), but in a period of three to five years it can cause great damage to organized criminal groups originating from Montenegro, which for the most part operate abroad," he writes in "Assessment of the danger of serious and of organized crime in Montenegro".
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