Petranović, Jokić and others' detention extended for another three months

The suspects in the cigarette smuggling case - Vesko Petranović, Dejan Jokić, Dražen Vukadinović, Branko Čelić, Davor Lukačević and Marko Đurišić - will remain in custody for another three months, the Supreme Court panel decided, accepting the proposal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office.

"The Council of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, deciding on the proposal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro dated June 18, 2025, to extend the detention of the defendants PV, JD, VD, Č.B., LD, and Đ.M., has issued a Decision to extend the detention of the defendants for another three months, i.e. until September 25, 2025," the court announced.

They explained that the defendant Petranović's detention was extended due to reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization and two extended criminal offenses of smuggling.

"The detention of the defendants JD, VD, Č.B., and Đ.M. was extended due to the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and two extended criminal offenses of smuggling in co-perpetration, while the detention of the defendant LD was extended due to the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and smuggling. The detention of all the defendants was extended due to the risk of flight, and the detention of the defendant PV was also extended due to the unhindered conduct of the proceedings, because these are criminal offenses for which, by law, a prison sentence of ten years, or a more severe sentence, can be imposed, and which offenses are particularly serious due to the manner of commission and consequences. Let us recall that the detention of the defendants PV, JD, VD, Č.B., LD, and Đ.M. was ordered by the Decision of the investigating judge of the Higher Court in Podgorica on March 26, 2025, and extended by the Decision of the council of that court on April 22, 2025, so that according to the Decision of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, the detention can last until September 25, 2025," they said. Supreme Court.

The owner of the company "Tehnomax" Vesko Petranović was arrested at the Podgorica Airport in late March. Three police officers, Đurišić, Vukadinović and Lukačević, were also arrested in the same operation.

SPO officers, acting on the orders of the SDT, also arrested Dejan Jokić, a resident of Podgorica, who was also arrested in February this year on suspicion of having played an important role in cigarette smuggling in a criminal organization that the prosecution believes was organized by businessman Aleksandar Aco Mijajlović.

SDT believes that the criminal organization, allegedly headed by Aco Mijajlović, ordered at least 60.000 packs of cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates in less than a year, worth over 100 million euros, which then ended up on the illegal market in Montenegro and other countries via the port of Bar.

This case of the SDT and SPO, which was completed in several stages, was opened based on months of coordinated action with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation - EUROPOL.

In addition to the evidence that the SDT and SPO obtained through international legal assistance, during the work on this case, numerous other pieces of evidence were found that show how the smuggling chain functioned. In the first crackdown by the SDT against the tobacco mafia, police officers Dragan Backović, Milenko Mića Rabrenović, Radoje Rabrenović and Mirko Mijušković were arrested last year, and Golub Vojinović and Zoran Žuti Đukanović were also deprived of their liberty.