Baćović and his team were carrying tons of cocaine: The Škaljari cell of the Balkan cartel is charged with smuggling around two tons of cocaine

The now deceased Skaljarac from Herceg Novi, Goran Vlaović - Goro, in 2020, together with a person whose identity has not yet been determined, formed a criminal organization that smuggled around two tons of cocaine.

According to the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), this, the Skaljari cell of the Balkan drug cartel, also included high-ranking members of that clan - Radomir Boban Baćović from Nikšić, Milan Tišma and Ivan Đonović from Bar, as well as the leaders of the Drešaj clan, Viktor, Leon and Kristijan Drešaj from Tuzani, and Vjekoslav Lambulić from Zeća.

Yesterday, the SDT, acting on a criminal report from the Special Police Department (SPO), issued an order to conduct an investigation against the seven of them, thus initiating criminal proceedings.

They are charged with the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotics, and Tišma is also charged with another criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotics.

"The defendants are charged with having, in 2020, become members of a criminal organization organized by the now deceased GV and an unknown person, and, together with certain other and unknown members, illegally transported 1.890 kilograms of cocaine from South America to Europe and Australia for sale, while the defendant MT is also charged with having, together with the now deceased organizer and unknown members of the criminal organization, illegally transported 250 packages of cocaine from South America to Europe for sale," the SDT announced yesterday.

The prosecution, led by Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, specified that Baćović, Đonović, Tišma, Leon and Kristijan Drešaj are on the run.

"...The Special State Prosecutor's Office will also ask the High Court in Podgorica to order the issuance of an arrest warrant for them, while the defendants VD and VL are in custody in another criminal case and proceedings," the statement reads.

Who was in the network?

One of the most important links in the Balkan drug cartel's Skaljari cell, Goran Vlaović, was killed on August 25, 2022, in front of a nightclub near Zrće, on the Croatian island of Pag.

That morning, around six o'clock, after he left a nightclub, the killer approached him from behind and fired a shot into his neck before fleeing. He was arrested when he returned to check his accuracy.

A Serbian citizen, Duško Tanasković (32) from Kragujevac, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his murder.

Montenegro had previously requested the extradition of Tanasković from Croatia, who is accused of participating in the murder of Milić Minja Šaković in mid-2022 in Budva. This gangster from Podgorica was liquidated on June 17, 2022, under the walls of Budva's Old Town.

On May 25th of that year, Tanasković crossed the border into Montenegro, and four days later rented an apartment in Budva from which he monitored a high-ranking member of the Skalja clan, together with Belgrade resident Luka Pilčević (26).

The 26-year-old is accused of firing shots at a man from Podgorica, and Tanasković of helping him do so.

Montenegro had previously requested the extradition of Tanasković from Croatia, who is accused of participating in the murder of Milić Minja Šaković in mid-2022 in Budva. This gangster from Podgorica was liquidated on June 17, 2022, under the walls of Budva's Old Town.

On May 25th of that year, Tanasković crossed the border into Montenegro, and four days later rented an apartment in Budva from which he monitored a high-ranking member of the Skalja clan, together with Belgrade resident Luka Pilčević (26).

The 26-year-old is accused of firing shots at a man from Podgorica, and Tanasković of helping him do so.

Tisma and two Albanian nationals were arrested in November 2019 in Athens after Greek police found around 105 kilograms of cocaine, worth €828.565, during a search of the apartment they were using. The operation was carried out by the Greek Drug Enforcement Agency in cooperation with the US DEA.

The fugitive Baćović allegedly took over the leadership of the clan after the murder of the leaders of the Balkan drug cartel's Skalja cell - Igor Dedović and Jovan Vukotić - together with Belgrade resident Luka Bojović. Montenegrin investigators are searching for him on suspicion that he organized a criminal group that was involved in international drug trafficking a decade ago, and new investigations are expected in cooperation with countries in the region for organizing kidnappings and murders.

Although Baćović has been known as one of the leaders of the Montenegrin underworld since the 1990s, he has not been prosecuted for any serious crimes in Montenegro or in the countries of the region for more than two decades.

The SDT charges him with being the head of a criminal organization that committed 15 criminal offenses - unauthorized production and trafficking of narcotics. The indictment filed against him also includes Danilovgrad residents Miloš Mikica Lalević and Igor Vujošević, Subotica resident Alen Kurina, whom the media calls the head of the "Vojvodina clan", Podgorica resident Damir Frljučkić, and Vjekoslav Lambulić (Vjeko Lamblo), who has been in custody in Supka since October 2023.

Lambulić is also included in the SDT indictment in the "General" case, and he is accused of smuggling cocaine with Radovan Perović from Budva and Mile Ojdanić from Tivćan.

According to the SDT, the brothers Viktor and Leon Drešaj and Leon's son Kristijan Drešaj are part of a criminal group formed by the alleged leaders of the Kavača cell of the Balkan drug cartel - Radoje Zvicer and Slobodan Kašćelan, together with Vaso Ulić from Podgorica.

Đonović is one of the key drug lords in Bar. The media reported that he had moved his drug business to Belgrade and Spain.