Australian and American investigators secretly tracked about 900 kilograms of cocaine smuggled by the group Radoja Zvicer i Vasa Street, so that at one point they would replace the drug packages with identical copies that contained the contents of the medical composition.
This is stated by special prosecutors in the case files against a multi-member group accused of transnational cocaine smuggling, and prosecuted in the international intelligence operation "General"...
The Montenegrin Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) and the Special Police Department (SPO) have been closely cooperating with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in this endeavor for months. ) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
In the case files against members of that alleged criminal association, it is stated that Ulic, Zvicer, Veseln Pavličić, Ivan Delić, Damir Mandić, Vuk Vulević, Dragan Pavlićević, Radovan Pantović and other unidentified persons, from the end of November 2020 to the end of June 2021, transported about 900 kilograms of cocaine without authorization and for further sale.
It is explained that this group operated on the territory of Montenegro, Colombia, Ecuador, Australia and the Netherlands...
"In the way that unknown persons in the territory of Ecuador, acting on the orders of the defendants Ulic Vas and Radoj Zvicer, loaded the narcotic drug cocaine in the amount of 900 kg, which was packed in individual packages weighing 25 kg and 30 kg, onto the vessels at an undetermined location on which there was a stamp in the form of capital Latin letters 'DRL'", according to the case files.
After counting how many drugs belonged to whom, the investigators state that during that period Pantović, acting on the orders of the Swiss, participated in the unauthorized transfer of that narcotic drug by giving instructions and advice to some people from the territory of Colombia via the SKY ECC application procurement of cocaine, but also in terms of monitoring the same payment:
"From the moment when the narcotic drug is transferred from the producer from the so-called 'kitchen' to its storage in the port of Pedernales - Ecuador, after which in mid-April 2021 unknown persons transferred the narcotic drug cocaine from several smaller vessels to the ship - the Remarker, which was located in the territorial waters of Ecuador, about 230 NM from the port of Pedernales , at the location with coordinates 84°00”W 00”30”N”, it is added in the SDT documents.
It is stated that after that, the competent authorities of Australia and the United States of America (USA) carried out a procedure of secret monitoring of transport and delivery, when the cocaine was replaced with identical copies of the packaging containing the contents of the medical composition.
"At that time, the procedure of secret monitoring of transportation and delivery was carried out, during which the narcotic drug cocaine was replaced with identical copies of the packaging containing the contents of the medical composition, after which the delivery by sea was controlled in the period from April 2021 to 25 . in 5 transferred and stored in the port of Sydney - New South Wales, so that on June 2021, 3 in the territory of New South Wales In Wales, Australia, the competent state authorities deprived Trajkovski Menda, Gjelos Nikolai, Baluch Mostafa and Nikolao Misa of their freedom, against whom they initiated criminal proceedings", reads the text of the investigator.
In the recently published public version of the Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA 2024), it is stated that Balkan criminal groups are also using new routes to smuggle cocaine.
"Despite the fact that most of this type of narcotics still enters Europe through ports in Spain and the Netherlands, during the reporting period, criminal organizations intensified the use of the 'eastern' route, where cocaine is smuggled by ocean-going ships to the countries of Southeast and Eastern Europe. from where it enters the European market. Also, several attempts to smuggle cocaine through the port of Bar were registered. In the reporting period, the organization of cocaine smuggling through ports in Africa was registered more and more frequently, where the port of Alexandria in Egypt, as well as ports in Libya, stand out. Ports in Africa are primarily transit areas through which cocaine is smuggled from South America to the countries of Europe, Asia and Australia," states the document, which was drawn up by an interdepartmental team composed of representatives of the intelligence and security sector and the Special State Prosecutor's Office, with the coordination of the Bureau of operational coordination of intelligence and security sector authorities.
"General"
In security circles, the action of the "General" was marked as one of the most important blows to the mafia, given the names on the nineteen-member list of suspects for transnational cocaine smuggling.
Some of the defendants in that case of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) have been among the main players in criminal circles around the world for more than two decades - Ulić, Veselin Paro Pavličić, Vukan (Vinetu) Čoković Matić, Vuk Vulević, Ivan Delić, brothers Viktor and Leon Drešaj , Vjekoslav Lambulić, Switzerland...
This is confirmed by the official statements of the Police Administration - that "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" were also deprived of their freedom.
The interlocutor of Vijesti claims that the Montenegrin investigators were provided with an extensive package of intelligence data on the illegal activities of the members of the criminal group who were under a kind of surveillance for a long time...
He said that the list of those arrested is not final and that there are related persons, and that "the investigation should go to the very top of the state and the previous government"...
"We are talking about persons who have been misled for decades in the intelligence data of foreign services, who have information about their contacts with former officials of the security services in Montenegro, under whose cloak and protection many were untouchable. They are large international smugglers of tobacco and narcotics. Only now have the conditions for international action been created. Previously, it was not possible due to the fear of constant data leakage and the involvement of former security and political structures," said the newspaper's source.
About 40 percent of cocaine enters Europe through the port of Antwerp
According to the report of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the member states of the European Union in 2022 reported 84.000 seizures of cocaine, which amounted to 323 tons (compared to 303 tons in 2021) and represents a record amount for the sixth year in a row.
"The leading positions in the seizure of cocaine are occupied by Belgium with 111 tons, the Netherlands with 51,5 tons and Spain with 58,3 tons, which makes up 68 percent of the total amount seized. It is estimated that 40 percent of the cocaine smuggled from Latin America enters Europe through the port of Antwerp, which is still the main hub for the entry of smuggled cocaine into Europe, followed by the ports of Rotterdam and Valencia. During 2023, 116 tons of cocaine were seized in the port of Antwerp, which represents a significant increase compared to 2022, when 110 tons were seized. Also, during 2023, Spain registered the largest seizure of cocaine in one shipment, about 9,5 tons, which was hidden in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador," according to a recently published SOCTA document.
Bonus video:
