The damage caused to the country by the smuggling of cigarettes by a group gathered around is measured in hundreds of millions of euros Djordje Pavićević, it was reported unofficially to Vijesti after the re-arrest of that Baranin, designated as the head of a criminal organization.
Members of the Special Police Department (SPO) again yesterday deprived the owner of the Basketball Club Mornar, the customs officers of their liberty. Ivan Kovačević i Veljko Đuričić, but Nikica Kovačević, once employed in Pavićević's company "Playmaker"...
The news was told that this was done due to the expansion of the investigation, in the framework of which the same team ended up behind bars at the end of last year... This practically means that they will soon be released, because they have already been detained once...
The source of the newspaper said that members of the SPO do not leave the Free Zone of Luka Bar for months while investigating the case and that they have collected a lot of evidence...
"It is a huge problem, however, that they are at large while work is being done on such a complex case. The court released her, so they can influence the witnesses", claims an interlocutor familiar with the events.
Yesterday, the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), which is in charge of the investigation, did not make any official statement on the matter, and Baranina's legal representative, lawyer Zoran Piperović he said that even he did not know what it was actually about:
"A lot of things are unclear, but let's wait until tomorrow (today) when they will be brought to the special prosecutor for questioning," he said.
Pavićević, Ivana Kovačević, Veljko Đuričić and Nikica Kovačević were initially arrested in December 2023, since which they have been charged with creating a criminal organization, falsifying an official document and smuggling by aiding and abetting.
Their custody was lifted on March 11, and Pavićević and the other suspects denied guilt.
Kovačević was also charged in the case against the group that, according to the SDT, he formed Milos Medenica, the son of the former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica. And that team, among other things, is charged with smuggling tobacco products in the Free Zone of Port Bar.
At the end of last year, the investigation unofficially told the news that Pavićević's criminal group had smuggled dozens of containers full of illegal cigarettes.
"The investigators determined that the ships left the Port of Bar empty, and that the cigarettes were left in the warehouses of the Free Zone in order to further sell them on the illegal markets... Customs officials helped make it look like that in the documents," said an interlocutor to Vijesti from the investigation.
"By order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, and after searching the premises of the business company 'P'... the Special Police Department deprived Ð of his freedom. P., the founder and responsible person of the company, as well as a former employee of the company NK and two officials of the Revenue and Customs Administration IK and V. Ð., due to the grounds of suspicion that they have committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, falsifying an official document and smuggling by aiding and abetting" , it was written in the then announcement of the special prosecutor and spokesperson of SDT Vukas Radonjić.
In the cigarette smuggling scheme submitted to the SDT a year ago by the former prime minister Dritan Abazovic (URA), participants in the alleged smuggling of tobacco products through the Bar Port Free Zone were drawn.
According to that official document of the Revenue and Customs Administration, at the top of the smuggling pyramid are allegedly members of the "Grand" and "Bemax" clans, and they smuggle the brands "Merlin", "Trokadero", FM", "King" and "Manchester"...
It is explained that Pavićević, through related persons and companies, placed illegal cigarettes on domestic markets, in the region and in the European Union.
"The most common transit of cigarettes took place through the Free Customs Zone of the Port of Bar. The countries of origin are the countries of the off shore zone, the Middle East, North African countries, the Russian Federation, the UAE, China, Turkey, Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, and the final destination is the EU market - Italy, Spain and Great Britain", says the document of the Revenue and Customs Administration.
It is added that up to 50.000 packs of cigarettes "traveled" in one container, and that everything was done with the support of the freight forwarder.
According to the same data, they arranged the paperwork that helped to smuggle tobacco products "under the guise" of other goods - plastic and glass cups, pet food, furniture...
In the same document, it is explained that these activities were "strongly supported by certain high-ranking members of the Police Administration".
"She took 200.000 euros"
Pavićević and Ivana Kovačević are the subject of communication of the group gathered around Miloš Medenica, also accused of cigarette smuggling in Port Bar.
On the Sky application, some of the members of that team claim that Kovačević earned 200 euros in that illegal business.
"She took 200 h with us godmother. To put 10 people in jail. If he did that, I wouldn't do that to the executioner... Everyone is asking for an explanation," states one of the messages, after the team "fell" with a load of cigarettes.
They then comment that messages from a source warn them that police inspectors for economic crime are waiting for them at the exit from the Free Zone.
Along with the insults, Kovačević is accused of setting them up...
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