Final verdict for Zvicer, sentenced to 16 years in prison

The Court of Appeals of Montenegro has upheld the verdict of the Special Department of the Higher Court in Podgorica, which convicted Radoje Zvicer and four other defendants of creating a criminal organization and smuggling cocaine.

The Court of Appeal announced that the appeals of the defendants' defense attorneys and the Special State Prosecutor's Office were rejected as unfounded.

Zvicer, as the organizer of the criminal group, was sentenced by a final verdict to a single sentence of 16 years in prison. Milan Vujotić and Dragan Knežević were sentenced to 11 years in prison each, while Slobodan Kašćelan and Igor Božović were sentenced to 13 years in prison each.

"The first-instance verdict does not contain any significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, and the first-instance court correctly established the decisive facts on which it based its conclusions on the existence of criminal offenses and the guilt of the accused," the Court of Appeals decision states.

The court assessed that it was proven during the proceedings that Zvicer organized a criminal group in the second half of 2020 for the purpose of international cocaine smuggling.

According to the verdict, the organization's activities were planned for an unlimited period of time and on an international scale, with strict internal control and discipline of its members.

The Court of Appeal states that Zvicer assigned tasks to all members of the organization, organized the procurement of cocaine in Ecuador and other South American countries, its transport by sea to the Netherlands and other European countries, as well as financing the procurement of drugs and transportation costs.

The verdict also states that he determined the financial roles of the organization's members and the distribution of profits from drug sales.

The other defendants, according to the established facts, were tasked with providing money for the purchase of cocaine, finding means of transportation and people to transfer the money, and performing other tasks on the orders of the organizer.

"Based on all the evidence presented, it has been correctly determined that this criminal organization was formed with the clear aim of committing an unspecified number of criminal offenses of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotics," the Court of Appeals announced.

The institution emphasized that this is the first legally concluded criminal proceeding against Radoje Zvicer's criminal organization.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal Kž-S No. 7/26 will be published on the court's website.