In the evidentiary proceedings against a group accused of international cocaine smuggling, before a special panel presided over by Judge Sonja Keković at the Higher Court in Podgorica, letters from the Ministry of Justice, as well as reports from the Swedish police, were read today.
One of the police documents states, among other things, that three guys fishing on the lake found drugs in packages floating around, which they then brought to a police patrol. There were six packages.
Another police report from Sweden says that a resident was walking along the coast with his wife and found a package on the beach, which he then took home. When he opened it and realized it was drugs, he called the police to report it. They referred him to the coast guard.
One woman said that children who were playing dragged a package of drugs to the shore with a rake.
The report states that 20 packages weighing one kilogram each of cocaine were floating on the lake. The ship had sailed from South America. Very unusual behavior was observed on the ship.
The police report on the seizure of amphetamine drugs between the islands of Stirso and Vargo on the night of May 25-26, 2020, states that the cocaine content is 95 percent. The weight is also listed. Thus, individual packages weighed 1.002 grams, 1.018, 1.001, then 1.997 grams.
This evidence was read today by Judge Sonja Keković in the continuation of the trial of defendant Milovan Burić and other defendants for cocaine smuggling.
She also read the verdicts of the Gothenburg District Court and the Western Sweden District Court, which sentenced Michael Rasmus to six years in prison for drug trafficking.
Attorney Zdravko Begović, Milovan Burić's defense attorney, pointed out that these defendants cannot be connected with certainty to the drugs that were found at the time.
"Where can we get the guarantee that the drugs are from that particular ship? We have no information that the ships were searched. We only have information that the drugs are floating on the lake. This is all hypothetical. I object to the evidence presented because the drugs cannot in any way be linked to the defendants. The origin of the drugs found cannot be determined based on this documentation. Also, the drugs found at sea cannot be linked to the drugs that Burić is charged with," he believes.
Attorney Danilo Mićović said that the documentation presented by the court as evidence, in form and content, is treated as an official police note. He believes that this cannot be evidence in a criminal legal sense.
"I propose that this evidence be removed from the case file as legally invalid. A perverse and illegal practice has begun to be created in this court, that everything that comes from abroad through Europol and Eurojust is used as evidence," Mićović stated.
Lawyer Matija Bulatović added that "this represents operational information, not evidence."
Attorney Damir Lekić pointed out that the evidentiary proceedings are progressing, but that his client Rade Vojvodić is not mentioned anywhere.
Defendant Burić added that his name was not mentioned in the verdict in Sweden.
Judge Keković then read evidence regarding the discovery of the drugs in Australia.
Lawyer Begović stated that this was all a product of Sky Communications and wondered whether it was possible to use this as evidence.
"It is made up of bizarre details. It is all dust in the eyes. This is a fictional scenario that has no basis in evidence. This does not deserve to be submitted to the court as evidence, because the terms 'almost certain' and 'very likely' are used. This cannot be evidence in any case. I propose that it be removed from the case file as legally invalid evidence," said Begović.
Lawyer Mićović added that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Montenegrin citizens in Australia who "very likely" participated in it.
"All of this confirms to us that no country in the world, except Montenegro, will allow the comfort of prosecuting someone without 100 percent evidence that they committed a crime," he said.
Special Prosecutor Jovan Vukotić opposed the defense's proposals to exclude evidence from the case file because it was obtained in accordance with the law.
Lawyer Zdravko Begović then reacted.
"Where is the DNA profile of the defendants? Where are the drugs? Where were the mobile phones seized? And the court is conducting evidence on which of the defendants' wives is employed at a bank, where the children attend primary school. This is legally irrelevant evidence," he stressed.
Lawyer Damir Lekić believes that by presenting evidence, he wants to compromise the defendant Rade Vojvodić, namely that he went to the "Kekec" Elementary School in Bar with one of the defendants, which, according to him, is beyond all reason and common sense.
The accused are Milovan D. Burić, known as Ćićo from Bar, Zoran R. Kovačević from Bar, an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Forest Service of the Regional Center South Bar, Nenad M. Novović, known as Neno, Rade D. Vojvodić from Bar, Nedeljko A. Brkan from Bar and Zoran K. Drešić from Bar.
All defendants presented their defense before the court and denied the allegations in the special prosecutor's indictment at the trial in February.
The indictment of Special State Prosecutor Jovan Vukotić states that a person who used the PINs IMYXQ9, X1E4AE and UM3GRZ and the nicknames Bolivar, "GIL" and YAKDLLS" on the encrypted SKY ECC application during September 2020 created and organized a criminal organization that operated until March 2021 on the territory of Montenegro, the Republic of Serbia, the Kingdom of Belgium, Australia, the Kingdom of Spain, Suriname and in international territorial waters, and whose members during the period of organization and operation were the defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Kovačević, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan, Rade Vojvodić, as citizens of Montenegro, and several unidentified persons, and whose goal is to commit the criminal offenses of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs.
By which the defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Kovačević, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 2, in conjunction with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
In order to implement the criminal plan, the defendants Zoran Kovačević, Milovan Burić, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, as citizens of Montenegro, the person who used the pin IMYXQ2020 on the encrypted SKY ECC application and the currently unidentified sailor on the ship MSC JOANNA, were accused from September to December 9, from the port of Antwerp in the Kingdom of Belgium to near Sydney in Australia. The defendant Zoran Kovačević, as an official of the Police Administration of Montenegro, by taking advantage of his position, participating in the act of commission with intent, jointly committed a criminal offense and, by implementing a joint decision with another act with intent, significantly contributed to the commission of the criminal offense, illegally transported for sale 150 kilograms of the narcotic drug cocaine and 59 kilograms of the narcotic drug methamphetamine.
In the way that the person who used the pin IMYXQ9 on the encrypted "SKY ECC" application in September 2020 hired the defendants Zoran Drešić and Nenad Novović to find sailors who would carry out the transfer of the narcotic drugs cocaine and methamphetamine from Antwerp to near Sydney, who for that purpose found the defendant Nedeljko Brkan, and the defendant Nedeljko Brkan for the same purpose found and hired the defendant Rade Vojvodić and another sailor on the ship MSC JOANNA" as well as the defendants Zoran Kovačević and Milovan Burić to organize the transfer of the narcotic drugs cocaine and methamphetamine after the arrival of the ship "MSC JOANNA" and gave instructions to the sailors on how to reload the said narcotic drugs from the ship "MSC JOANNA" to the speedboat. So, on October 20, 10, the defendants Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, in the port of Antwerp, in the Kingdom of Belgium, on the ship MSC JOANNA, on the instructions of a person who used the pin IMYXQ2020 on the encrypted "SKY ECC" application, took 9 packages from an unknown person containing a total of 6 kilograms of the narcotic drug methamphetamine and hid it on the ship, and on October 59, 21, the defendants Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, in the port of Antwerp, in the Kingdom of Belgium, on the ship MSC JOANNA, on the instructions of a person who used the pin IMYXQ10 on the encrypted SKY ECC application, took 2020 bags from an unknown person containing a total of 9 kilograms of the narcotic drug cocaine and hid it on the ship, then packed it in waterproof bags.
After which, during December 2020 and January 2021, the defendants received money for the above-mentioned actions, namely defendants Zoran Kovačević and Milovan Burić, 50.000 euros each, defendants Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, 104.500 euros each, defendants Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, a total of 418.000 euros, and a currently unidentified sailor, 40.000,00 euros. By which the defendants as co-perpetrators committed, namely the defendant Zoran Kovačević, the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs under Article 300, paragraph 4 in conjunction with paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs under Article 300, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Bonus video:
