In a major international operation, the police are also looking for Radoj Zvicer, Ivan Delić, Leon Drešaj and Vuk Vulević, because they are suspected of being part of a criminal group that smuggled more than 2,5 tons of cocaine, "Vijesti" has learned.
One of the leaders of the criminal clan Drešaj from Tuzi - Viktor Drešaj was arrested this morning in the large international operation "General" by order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), "Vijesti" has learned.
The source of "Vijesti" from Tuzi stated that Drešaj, shortly after ten o'clock, was seen with handcuffs, accompanied by an officer of the Special Police Department (SPO).
The "Vijesti" source stated that the SPO also arrested Vukan Čoković (61), who previously had the name Vinet, in Budva on the order of the SDT. Vaso Ulić (64) from Podgorica was also arrested in the operation, and his son was also handcuffed.
Among those arrested are Petar Miranović from Podgorica, Veselin Paro Pavličić from Danilovgrad, as well as Marinko Prelević.
"Vijesti" sources claim that one of the suspects in the large international action of the security services is Damir Mandić, the only prisoner convicted in the case of the murder of Duško Jovanović.
The officers of the Sector for the fight against crime, headed by Lazar Šćepanović, participated in the international operation all the time.
SPO members have been searching the houses of Drešaj in Tuzi since this morning.
Viktor Drešaj and his brother Leon were listed as the leaders of a strong criminal clan from Tuzi in the document SOCTA - Assessment of the danger of serious and organized crime.
In that document, it is written that the Drešajs have been involved in cocaine smuggling for years, but their primary activity is the smuggling of marijuana, tobacco and tobacco products.
The SDT officially announced that those arrested are accused of trying to smuggle around two and a half tons of cocaine from South America to Europe and Australia.
"According to the order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, the Special Police Department deprived of liberty: VU, VMČ., MB, NU, VD, DR, PM, MP and VP, and against them, as well as against: RZ, DP, VV, RB, ID and LD, who are on the run or cannot be reached by state authorities, and MB, DM, VL and RP, who are serving a prison sentence, filed a criminal complaint due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that they committed the criminal acts of creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession and placement The subject of the criminal complaint is the activity of a criminal organization organized by the suspects VU and RZ, whose members have become other suspects, in the international framework, with the aim of smuggling the narcotic drug cocaine from South America to Europe and Australia, in ships, in in the amount of 1.570 kg, in October 2020, which was prevented by the detection authorities of Colombia, and in the amount of about 900 kg, in June 2021, which was prevented by the detection authorities of Australia", according to the statement signed by the special prosecutor Vukas Radonjić.
He explained that the discovery and provision of evidence of criminal acts and suspects and the collection of all other information and data that can be useful for the successful conduct of criminal proceedings was carried out in months of continuous cooperation and through the mutual exchange of information between the Special State Prosecutor's Office and the Special Police Department with the Agency The European Union's law enforcement agency - EUROPOL, the Federal Bureau of Investigation - the FBI and the United States' DEA and the Australian Federal Police - AFP, while the evidence and police measures and actions against the suspects were undertaken by the Special Police Department until the filing of a criminal complaint.
He said that assistance was provided by the officers of the Anti-Drug Department and the Special Purpose Police Department.
"The police will take the suspects for questioning within the legal term, while the police previously searched their apartments and other premises they use in Montenegro, in order to find traces of criminal acts and items important for criminal proceedings," the statement concludes.
"The institutions of the system are stronger than the mafia"
It was announced from the Police Administration that sofficers of the Sector for the fight against crime - the Special Police Department and the Department for the fight against drugs, in coordination with the Special State Prosecutor's Office and in close cooperation with international partner services - the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement (EUROPOL), agents of the FBI and DEA and the Austrian Federal Police (AFP) and with the logistical support of other organizational units of the police, carried out a months-long activity codenamed "General", which is aimed at arresting a large number of persons linked to drug smuggling on a transcontinental level.
"In the activities that were carried out in the early hours of the morning, nine persons were deprived of their freedom, including leaders and high-ranking members of high-risk organized criminal groups, with many years of continuity in the implementation of criminal activities in the field of organized crime. Collected evidence and intelligence, as represented by the criminal complaint, indicate that during 2020 and 2021, members of this criminal group smuggled a total of 2,47 tons of cocaine from South America to Europe and Australia," the police announced.
It is also added that in the coming period, the officers of the Sector for the fight against crime at all levels will continue with undiminished intensity the implementation of the started and the initiation of new, police-prosecutor activities, with a very clear message "that the institutions of the system are stronger than the mafia, and that we will additionally consolidate, improve and strengthen the intelligence and security sector and raise the security situation to a significantly higher level".
Čoković, known to the services for decades, was arrested in Spain for cocaine
Vukan (Vinetu) Čoković was arrested back in 2015 in Spain, then in the large international operation "Vinetu", and international services identified him as the leader of a criminal group from which 3,5 tons of cocaine were seized.
Narcotics were then discovered in several operations, and the police arrested a total of 69 people, of whom Čoković and at least eight members of the group from Serbia and Montenegro played a major role in smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe.
The name of Vukan (Vinetu) Čoković has been recorded in police documents for decades as a security person of interest, who spent a large part of his time in Europe and Latin America in order to avoid prison or liquidation.
In the summer of 2015, when he was arrested, the Spanish portal ElConfidencial stated that Čoković from Budva was "living to the fullest" in Madrid and that he was not hiding.
In Spain, he also presented himself as a football manager, and as that media wrote at the time, it was precisely the squandering of money that "cost" him his arrest. Allegedly, the police came to him quite by accident, investigating who would buy 1.400 stolen watches, worth several million euros.
Ulic arrested for smuggling in Australia
Vaso Ulić (64) from Podgorica was also arrested in the operation, and his son was also handcuffed.
He was arrested in August 2017 by order of the SDT on charges of being involved in international drug smuggling in Australia.
The evidence then indicated the suspicion that Ulic was the leader of a criminal organization, and that over a long period of time he organized the smuggling of large quantities of narcotics from other countries to Australia, where further processing and distribution took place, i.e. drug sales.
Ulic was later accused of organizing the smuggling of 2004 kilograms of MDMA "from other countries to Australia" in 60, and of earning $8 per ecstasy pill in that country.
Two years later, he made an agreement with the SDT to serve as a prisoner for two years and pay 50.000 euros to the state and the same amount for humanitarian purposes.
Several "Vijesti" sources stated that a "large-scale action against members of organized criminal groups" is underway.
"The action codenamed 'General' started this morning, based on the previous months-long cooperation of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) and the Special Police Department with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Directorate for counternarcotics (DEA) of the United States of America and the Australian Federal Police (AFP)," Radonjić told "Vijesta".
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