Who else's badges are in the blackjack wheel?

Assistant Director of Police for Combating Organized Crime Dejan Knezevic was arrested last night due to his alleged association with part of the recently arrested group, which the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is charging with creating a criminal organization and drug smuggling.

Members of the Special Police Department (SPO) deprived him of his freedom shortly after 17 p.m., on the order of the SDT.

Unofficial interlocutors of Vijesti say that they do not rule out the continuation of arrests at the top of the Police Administration, especially with the fact that the offices in the part of the building used by the management of that institution were searched last night.

"As a continuation of the action that the Special Police Department undertakes by order and together with the Special State Prosecutor's Office, and based on several months of planned and coordinated action by the Special State Prosecutor's Office, the Special Police Department and the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Law Enforcement Authorities - Europol, he was today deprived of his liberty Acting Assistant Director of the Police Directorate for the Anti-Crime Sector, DK due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that he has committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization and other criminal offenses," the special prosecutor/spokesman of the SDT told the News last night. Vukas Radonjic.

He added that the Special State Prosecutor's Office will promptly inform the public about further actions and the state of the proceedings.

The Police Directorate also announced last night that the acting assistant director of the Police Directorate for the anti-crime sector, Dejan Knežević, had been arrested.

"Given the stage of the procedure, that is, legal restrictions, no more details can be announced. The police is cooperating and acting according to the order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office in this case", it was announced from the institution he manages Zoran Brđanin.

Warrants for police officers

Montenegrin police issued warrants for six colleagues on suspicion of being part of a criminal organization Radoja Zvicer, which managed to deliver at least three tons of cocaine via transoceanic routes to Europe and Australia.

At the national level, they are looking for colleagues - a commander in the Kotor police Ivan Nikolić i Marko Novaković from that municipality, but also Miloš Mišurović from Podgorica. While the big operation of the SPO and SDT was still going on last week, a search was also launched for police officers Ivan Stamatović i Nebojma Bulgarian, and it was repeated for the officer of the Police Administration Ljubo Milović which has been unavailable to the Montenegrin services since the summer of 2022.

It was Milović, according to the investigators, who led a group of police officers who allegedly subordinated the interests of the state and the service to the criminal clan.

In the same operation, last week, an officer of the Search Unit from Podgorica was arrested Goran Stojanovic from Podgorica and drug inspector from Kotor Milan Popovic and their former colleagues - former special forces Vladimir Bajčeta, from Kotor Mileta Ojdanic, including Tihomir Adzic from Podgorica.

After the hearing, the investigating judge of the High Court in Podgorica ordered detention for them because of the danger of escape, the influence on witnesses and accomplices who are on the run, but also because of the "particularly difficult way of committing the crime"...

The beginning of the end

The arrest of the members of the criminal organization followed after the Special State Prosecutor's Office, on the order of the new GST Vladimir Novović, formed a criminal case again in May of last year, based on data that EUROPOL sent to the former leadership of the Special State Prosecutor's Office in June 2021.

Special prosecutor Sasa Cadjenovic in January 2022, he made a decision that there were no elements to initiate criminal proceedings against anyone. At that time, the chief special prosecutor was Milivoje Katnic.

After the first tranche of that communication delivered from Europol, cooperation with Montenegro was "frozen" due to the relationship between those former SDT leaders and individual police officers.

Čađenović was arrested on December 9, 2022 on suspicion of becoming a member of a criminal organization, and is still in custody in Spuž.

After several conversations with the new leadership, they realized that in Montenegro there is a will to fully investigate the criminal organization, and sent new packages of transcripts - conversations of members of that criminal organization.

Then the arrests started...

"In strong ties with Brđanin and Knežević"

In the first encrypted communication available to investigators, which was then published by the Libertas portal, Europol states that the police officers Petar Lazovic and Ljubo Milović, members of the Kavac criminal clan.

In that document, the transcripts are of the policemen's communication with the head of the Kavac clan, Radoj Zvicer, Veljko Belivuk, Marko Miljković and others, and the European law enforcement agency warned at the time that "the involvement of the policeman should also be investigated." Enis Baković"

"And regarding the Interpol notification and the role Tamara Zvicer (wife of Radoj Zvicer). It is also necessary to identify the other mentioned police officers called 'Tigar, Aco, Slobodan and Ranko', because they all had a specific role when it comes to protecting members of the Kavač clan and revealing sensitive operational data. "Tiger" is a person who received, as a gift, illegal weapons from the Swiss, and he was also the user of armored cars that, most likely, were bought by members of the Kavač clan, also as a gift", is Europol's recommendation to the Montenegrin prosecutor's office and the police.

In the same documents, it is stated that "at that time, Ljubo Milović must have had strong private and business ties with the director of the Montenegrin police, Zoran Brđanin, and the director of the criminal department, Dejan Knežević."

"Intelligence services also indicate that Petar Lazović and especially Ljubo Milović may be in a close relationship with the current director of the police, Zoran Brđanin, and the current head of the criminal police, Dejan Knežević. There is no evidence that Brđanin and Knežević were involved in any criminal activities".

In that document it is also written: "Active police officers, Petar Lazović and Ljubo Milović, are members of the Kavaka clan, directly involved in the smuggling of large quantities of cocaine from Ecuador to the European Union and Australia." Also, Petar Lazović and Ljubo Milović were involved in arms smuggling on behalf of the Kavački clan. At the same time, Lazović and Milović, on behalf of the Kavački clan, are also smuggling cigarettes. The assumption is that Ljubo Milović owns an unknown bank account with the amount of 48 million euros earned by smuggling cocaine," says the Europol document, as Libertas states.

At the end of February, the Minister of Internal Affairs gave Knežević a new acting mandate in the position of head of the Sector for the fight against crime.

After the hearing, they searched the apartment

Members of the SPO were still searching Knežević's apartment around 20 pm last night.

His defense attorneys, lawyers Borivoje and Željko Đukanović, confirmed to "Vijesta" that their client was deprived of his liberty and taken from the premises of the SPO to search the apartment.

"As his defense attorney, I also attend the search. After the search is over, we will receive information on whether it will be conducted to the acting prosecutor. Our client has not yet given any testimony," Željko Đukanović told "Vijesta" last night.

After the end of the search, he told "Vijesta" that the police did not find anything in the apartment of Dejan Knežević that would indicate the commission of any criminal act.

Searches at the top of the police force

Officials of the Special Police Department (SPO) entered the headquarters of the Police Directorate - Ministry of Internal Affairs last night around 19:XNUMX, according to "Vijesti" sources.

Unofficially, it was said that new arrests can be expected at the top of that institution.

"A search of the offices of the management of the Police Directorate is in progress", it was announced to "Vijesti" unofficially around 19:XNUMX.