The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje has collected evidence about the disappearance of a kilogram of cocaine from the court depot, after which it will make a decision in the case, it was announced to "Vijesti".
The Prosecutor's Office opened a case in April, after the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the Destruction of Legally Seized Drugs determined that the substance that was supposed to be burned was not actually cocaine.
"I inform you that this prosecutor's office has collected evidence and after evaluating the evidence, a decision will be made, which you will be informed about," the newspaper was told last week by the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje.
Cocaine stored in the court depot of the High Court in Bijelo Polje was found at RM i EM who were convicted 15 years ago and sentenced by a final court for the unauthorized production and distribution of narcotics.
The commission members, however, did not find the drugs, so the minutes stated that on March 23, 2024, they inspected the seized narcotics in that case, which did not react to tests for cocaine.
The court previously told "Vijesti" that on March 23, members of the interdepartmental commission conducted a direct inspection of the drugs seized for destruction, when they "noticed certain irregularities, namely irregularities in the form of the substance seized in the aforementioned case not showing the expected color during preliminary testing."
DON'T MISS IT
According to the court, the Commission informed them of this on March 28, 2025, when it delivered the minutes, which stated the irregularities observed.
"Due to the above, the evidence from the above case has been separated and will not be destroyed, but will be notified to the competent authority in order to clarify the specific situation and definitively determine the properties of the substance seized on April 26, 2008, which did not show the expected color during preliminary testing," the newspaper from the Bijelo Polje High Court, headed by Milan Smolović.
ONLY PART OF IT WAS BURNT
Of the total of about 3,5 tons of seized narcotics, the part that was located in the High Court in Bijelo Polje has been burned so far.
The destruction was carried out on April 2nd at the facility of the company “MM Sistem” from Nikšić, with the presence of the police and environmental monitoring.
This is stated in the government's Information on the activities of the Interdepartmental Commission for the implementation of the procedure for the takeover and destruction of legally seized drugs from the High Court in Podgorica and the High Court in Bijelo Polje.
Previously, 190 items were inspected - 11 were excluded due to compromised security, and one did not contain drugs according to preliminary testing.
The remaining quantity is in the High Court in Podgorica, where a control of 122 cases was carried out on May 10th.
The information states that the process has been stalled for a long time due to technical obstacles, primarily the lack of a legal entity that meets the requirements for incineration.
Bids for incineration were rejected by the Nikšić Iron Works, the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant and KAP due to failure to meet environmental and safety standards.
1.000
grams of cocaine, according to the authorities, was stored in a court depot, as part of a case in which two people were finally convicted 15 years ago. According to the verdict, the seized cocaine had a concentration of 79,5 percent
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje did not respond to questions about whether they questioned anyone else during the investigation, apart from the court employees...
Drug conviction handed down in 2010
The missing drugs stem from the case against RM and EM, who were found guilty in 2010 of the criminal offense of criminal association and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs and sentenced to eight years and eight months and seven years and eight months in prison, respectively.
Then, as the Bijelo Polje High Court said, they were ordered to permanently confiscate the substance - 1.000,40 grams of cocaine with a concentration of 79,5 percent, which was ordered to be destroyed after an expert examination upon the finality of the verdict.
"By the judgment of the Appellate Court of Montenegro, Ksž.br. 26/11 of 8. 11. 2011, the aforementioned judgment of this court was modified in terms of the legal assessment of the offense and the decision on the sentence, and the accused were sentenced to single prison sentences, namely the accused MR for a period of 6 years and 6 months, and the accused ME for a period of 5 years and 6 months, in which their detention is included. The convicted persons were in detention since 26. 4. 2008, and they began serving their sentences on 26. 1. 2012. The same approved the applications for conditional release, so the convicted RM was released on 30. 5. 2014, and the convicted EM on 9. 4. 2012," the Higher Court said earlier.
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