The military ship Jadran was searched without the presence of two witnesses

Dragan Krivokapić, police officer of CB Herceg Novi, testified today in the High Court in Podgorica in the continuation of the trial of those accused of smuggling about 60 kilograms of cocaine that was found on the school's military ship "Jadran".

He told the special panel chaired by judge Zoran Radović that he was the head of the anti-drug group that includes Heceg Novi, Tivat and Kotor, which searched the ship "Jadran" on April 19, 2019, anchored in the town of Pine. The ship was supposed to set sail for a cruise to Istanbul at around 11 a.m. that morning, as planned.

He stated that his colleague Slobodan Vulanović called him in the morning and said that it is suspected that drugs were found on the ship, that is, that a backpack with some suspicious substance was found.

Krivokapić stated that he immediately went to the ship with his colleagues Nenad Dajević and Dragoljub Peković. He told in detail that in front of the ship he found commander Ivanovski, five or six members of the military police who told him that it is customary to check the ship before each departure.

"They told me that the backpacks were found in the cassettes, which contained packages of drugs, and that they were determining who the cassettes belonged to. I was in constant contact with the senior state prosecutor Zoran Vučinić and informed him about everything. I told the captain of the ship that we would take over jurisdiction to search when the search order arrives from the investigating judge. When the order arrived by fax, I surrendered to the ship's master. There was also the former master of the ship Supić, who asked us to be faster and not detain the ship, which was about to sail on a cruise," said witness Krivokapić.

He then described in detail how he conducted the search, what was found and where. He added that prosecutor Vučinić told him in a telephone conversation that this case will be transferred to the jurisdiction of special prosecutor Saša Čađenović and the special police team (SPO) to travel, will soon arrive in Tivat, and that an expert team from the Forensic Center in Danilovgrad is also coming.

"We have already finished the search of the ship and made a report. We did not seize the drug, but it remained in the lower deck of the ship. I do not know who did it. After the special prosecutor Čađenović came, I informed him about everything I had undertaken with my colleagues. With certainty I can say that they came from the Forensic Center, with prosecutor Čađenović, so I can assume that they were investigating behind us, excluding backpacks and cocaine. The people from the Forensic Center must have excluded drugs," explained the witness.

Then followed a barrage of defense issues. Lawyers Marko Damjanović, Dragan Marković, Marko Radović and Ratko Pantović asked almost identically - why the ship was searched without the presence of two witnesses.

"There was an order from the commander for the ship to sail, as Supić told us, and he exerted some kind of pressure to finish. None of the passersby wanted to be a witness to the search, and that is not a legal obligation either. Supić had some position in the navy, and he didn't have any on board. We tried to find witnesses from passers-by in the Pinas, but we didn't find any. I assume that I told the special prosecutor Saša Čađenović this fact, that we conducted the search without witnesses, but I must have told it to the prosecutor Vučinić, because the search was carried out at his request. I cannot remember, due to the passage of time, whether I entered the information in the record that we opened packages with cocaine and performed a test - analysis with reagents," said Krivokapić.

Attorney Marković asked why this was not entered into the minutes and added that it should have been stated that they had opened the packages and that preliminary testing for the presence of drugs had been carried out.

Police officer Krivokapić could not remember what his colleague Nenad Dajević was doing, whether he was keeping records or searching the ship. Attorney Pantović asked where they were looking for witnesses, because, as he stated, there are always 1.000 passers-by in Pina. The witness clarified that he did not go with his colleagues to know exactly where they were looking for them.

"Special prosecutor Saša Čađenović behaved normally and did not leave the level of professional communication. Whether he was angry or not, you should ask him," answered the witness to the question of lawyer Marko Radović.

After the court presented him with the disputed record from April 19, 04, Krivokapić said that it was clearly written by mistake that Dajević searched the ship, and that he was the recorder that day.

"I called prosecutor Vučinić by phone for a consultation. I undertake this act of search and I am responsible for it. I informed prosecutor Vučinić that I am conducting the search without the presence of two witnesses, and I did not instruct the recorder to enter this fact into the record, as I am the one conducting the search and I take all the consequences on myself," Krivokapić said.

The defense lawyers objected to his testimony, considering that it contradicted the other evidence and that it was contradictory. They stated that the search warrant is legally invalid evidence.

The special prosecutor's indictment states that Vladimir M. Račić, who is on the run, Dejan D. Rovčanin, Duško V. Radenović, Radomir R. Osmajić and Vojin M. Stupar are accused of smuggling around 60 kilograms of cocaine.

According to the indictment, in order to implement the criminal plan, the defendant Duško Radenović together with Miloš Kulić, a senior sergeant in the Navy of Montenegro, who was designated as an accomplice witness by the decision of the High Court in Podgorica, on April 17, 2019, according to a previous agreement, with I intend to encourage the defendants Račić and Rovčanin to commit a criminal act.

The defendants Račić and Stupar, as co-perpetrators, committed the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs in conjunction with illegal possession of weapons, while Radenović also committed the same criminal offences. The defendants Račić and Rovčanin committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401 a, paragraph 1, and the defendants Radenović, Osmajić and Stupar committed the crime of creating a criminal organization under Article 401 a, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.