A criminal group led by a former police official, according to the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office Dusko Golubovic and businessman Sander Stanaj, was ready to remove anyone who threatened their smuggling business for 30.000 euros.
This is shown by correspondence from the encrypted Sky application, which the prosecution, among other things, uses as evidence against the team.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) claims that the messages exchanged between the accused are particularly indicative of their readiness to use violence and intimidation. Adnan Suković i Veton Berishaj.
After a truck with undeclared cigarettes was discovered at the Deleuša border crossing, the two considered retaliation against a person from Nikšić whom they suspected of "tipping them off."
Both members, the indictment states, express suspicion that they were discovered due to the actions of a man from Nikšić, whom they address as Knezevic, which is why they are planning retaliation - violence and intimidation...
"We have to blow up all the trucks for this Knežević," was one of Berishaj's initial messages.
He then repeats that they must return the "blow, hard", and then states that he will receive "a beating like he has never seen"...
"Let everyone know why... Either we're mafia or we're shit... There's no forgiveness... Let's pay five thousand each and f*ck him."
Suković, as it is further stated, approves of everything, with the message: "This must be returned."
Berishaj then goes for a more radical option: "Or we remove him... We remove him for 15 hil (thousand)... I would rather we remove him... Whatever you want, but we have to do something to him that he will regret for the rest of his life."
And in the following messages, as stated in the SDT document, he insists that it is "better to kill him"...
"Brother, trust me, it's better to kill him... He won't be hurt, just remove the shit... I'll take care of everything, it'll cost us 30 thousand... You do what you want, but I want him to go away, brother... And we can also shoot all his trucks and beat him to death... And he'll be completely removed from the ground, listen to me, brother, and no one will fuck with us anymore."
He tells his colleague that he will only take part in the action if he agrees, and he receives the answer: "I'm here for everything... You know that."
"Frying" Skye
The indictment, however, shows that, in parallel with the readiness for violence, the organization operates according to clearly established rules of internal control.
The hierarchy was strictly set - Golubović, according to the prosecution, communicated directly only with Stanaj, while Stanaj was the key link with the operational part of the group, including Suković and Berišaj, but also other defendants who passed on instructions.
A particularly elaborate model of behavior in crisis situations was used, when goods "fall" or one of the members is arrested.
Then, arising from their actions, the second pillar of the organization enters the scene - silence and protection.
It appears from the communications that the members had instructions in advance on how to behave in front of the police, not to mention others, to take responsibility and to wait for the arrival of the lawyer.
At the same time, superiors were obliged to provide legal assistance, but also to remove potential evidence, including the destruction of encrypted phones - the so-called "Sky frying".
Thus, after the seizure of cigarettes in Ancona in December 2020, one of the defendants reported that "Sky was burned", while messages were transmitted in parallel that the driver "would not say anything" and that a version of events had already been prepared to protect both the company and the other participants.
Then, it says, the Italian police found illegal cigarettes in a truck belonging to the company "Sava Trans", among the lumber.
At the same time, the defendant Abedin Pepić informs the organizer about everything, forwarding him the correspondence with the user "EL Cholo", from which it follows that the police found "everything", but that Sky was burned.
On the same day, the document states, the accused Andrija Petanovic he informed Vukot Vujošević: "It's best to keep quiet until the lawyers arrive"....
The same person, on the day the cigarettes were discovered in Italy, sends Andrija Petanović a correspondence with a user using the nickname "Kuci":
"The driver won't say anything... He just made up a story to say - where did he get it, that the company doesn't matter, etc.... We're trying to get the man and the company out... Nothing will happen to any of you...".
After another illegal shipment of cigarettes was seized in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Suković sends Berisha a correspondence with the user Ambasador, informing him that the driver Mevludin Kalač is "doing well", that he "has not and will not mention anyone" and "that he takes everything upon himself"....
Denial of guilt
Before the High Court upheld the SDT indictment, which charges the group with having damaged the state by smuggling cigarettes to the tune of 18 million and 260 thousand euros, Golubović said that "the indictment was fabricated, fabricated and published in one media outlet, thus maliciously targeting my family and me and endangering my safety."
At that time, he also said in the courtroom that there was no evidence that he knew or had any connection with the 13 people included in the indictment, except for Sander Stanaj.
He stated that he has known him and his family for more than 20 years.
"I never suspected that his company was involved in illegal business, nor did I receive any material or financial benefit from him. He never misled me or involved me in any illegal business," Golubović said.
He particularly pointed out that SDT has neither material nor personal evidence that he participated in the transfer of untaxed tobacco products across the customs line, and that the indictment does not state the place, time, and manner in which he allegedly committed the crimes.
"My connection to any police or customs officer, port worker, or my presence at the Port of Bar has not been established. This clearly indicates that I did not participate in the criminal act of cigarette smuggling, which I will prove during the court proceedings," Golubović stated.
Clearly divided roles in the international smuggling chain
According to the indictment, the criminal organization operated during 2020 and 2021 on the territory of several countries - Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy and other countries in Europe and Asia, with the aim of smuggling cigarettes and gaining illegal profits.
It says that it was headed by Golubović and Stanaj as organizers, who devised and coordinated the entire plan - from the procurement of cigarettes from abroad, their storage in the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, to illegal transport and sale on the regional and European markets.
In the operational part, other defendants also played key roles, including Adnan Suković and Veton Berišaj.
According to the prosecution, Suković was in charge of organizing the transport - he coordinated the collection of cigarettes from warehouses in Podgorica and Tuzi, their loading into trucks, hiding them among legal cargo and further smuggling them to Albania and European Union countries, including Croatia, and then Slovenia and Italy. He also participated in arranging sales and distribution, as well as in transferring money to the top of the organization.
Berishaj, on the other hand, played a key role in international distribution and sales - he took over the cigarettes, organized their storage in Zagreb and further distribution to the markets of Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. He was also involved in organizing further transport and collection, whereby the money was returned to the company, directly or through intermediaries. New Stanaju and the top of the organization.
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