A container of cocaine that is last month stopped in the port of Bar, has already arrived on the territory of Montenegro several times, and with the discovery of drugs, customs officials most likely inadvertently "broke" the operation of the US Agency for Combating Narcotics Smuggling (DEA), which has been going on for about a year, "Vijesti" has learned.
"That container with cocaine was in Montenegro at least five times," a source close to the investigation told "Vijesta".
On June 14, Montenegrin customs officials discovered 32 packages of cocaine in the container section of the port of Bar in a container with bananas.
"Customs officials, based on a risk analysis, determined for inspection two containers with bananas that arrived in the Port of Bar from Ecuador, via Malta. During the inspection, with the use of a scanner, in the part of the container intended for cooling (refrigerator area), a shadow was observed whose color indicated the existence of a substance of organic origin. The customs officers then proceeded to physical control and discovered a suspicious substance which is reasonably suspected to be the narcotic drug cocaine in the amount of 32 packages of 1 kg each," the Customs Administration announced after the seizure.
By order of the prosecution, the drugs were handed over to the Police Directorate, which announced on the same day that the gross weight of the shipment was 38,8 kilograms.
The sources of "Vijesti" claim that the DEA was conducting a controlled delivery operation, when a shipment of drugs is released in order to see who it is intended for, thus exposing the entire chain of smuggling, from the sender to the wholesale dealer at the final destination.
This was allegedly done in cooperation with some police forces of countries in the region, including Bosnia. It is not clear exactly when and where the cocaine was first placed in the cooling area of the container.
"It's been going on for more than a year. It's possible that someone called off the DEA operation a long time ago, as soon as the drug container sailed around the world for so long without anyone trying to take over the cocaine," said one "Vijesti" interlocutor.
The expert with whom "Vijesti" spoke said that the customs officials should have informed the police before they allowed a dozen people, including the forwarder, to attend the physical inspection of the container, when they removed the rusty screws from the partition behind which the container's cooling system is located. as a source close to the investigation said.
The container belongs to "Maersk", the largest company in the world for container transport of goods by ships and land.
"Maersk" also produces refrigerated containers that are used to transport perishable goods. Containers are rented to freight forwarders who contract the transportation of shipments for clients, prepare the supporting documentation and deliver the cargo to the final recipients.
"Every week, about 50 containers of bananas arrive at the port of Bar. Bananas for Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina arrive at this port," a source from the top police told "Vijesta" when the cocaine shipment was discovered.
On June 15, the Montenegrin police announced that they had questioned several persons in connection with the disputed container.
A police source said that the driver of the truck that was supposed to pick up the container, the freight forwarder and the maritime agent were questioned.
All denied having anything to do with the cocaine shipment.
"In coordination with the competent prosecutor, police officers are carrying out further police-prosecutor activities in this case, aimed at identifying the person who sent the shipment with cocaine, as well as the person who was supposed to receive it for further unauthorized distribution", the Administration announced. of the police.
The announcement states that "further activities, apart from other competent authorities on our territory, will be undertaken in cooperation with the security services of other countries".
It is not clear whether the Montenegrin police knew about the DEA operation before the Customs Administration discovered the container with cocaine.
"Wally's" bananas, but not drugs
The importer of the shipment of bananas from the "haunted" container that has been traveling around the world for a year is the company "Voli", as sources from the police and the port of Bar told "Vijesti" on June 14, but then the journalists received information that cocaine was found among the bananas and not in the cooling system compartment.
The company "Voli" replied to "Vijesti" that night that no drugs were found in their shipment of bananas, which turned out to be true.
"We contacted our freight forwarder, who informed us that the inside of the container in which the delivery of bananas for the company Voli was delivered was completely clean. We import bananas from our long-term business partner. The company "Voli" is in no way involved in any incident, just as this case is not in any way related to us and our business," Volija spokeswoman Olivera Šuškavčević replied to "Vijesta" on June 14.
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