Leaders of several branches of the Balkan drug cartel's Skalja cell have fled Radomir Boban Bacovic i Ivan Đonović, then Milan Tisma, Leon, Kristijan i Victor Dreshai i Vjekoslav Lambulić They were, according to the suspicions of special prosecutors, the Balkan part of the drug network led by the late boss of the Skaljarci gang. Goran Vlaović and an as yet unidentified organizer, whose tentacles reached from Colombia and Ecuador to Australia and Belgium.
The soldiers of this international drug network are also Australians. Jackson Ross Giles Adams i Christopher John Precha, including Chan Man Wa from Hong Kong.
In addition to Vlaović, the head of this criminal organization is also a person whom special prosecutors are trying to identify, who used the accounts CE428Q and DJOCE7 on the once protected Sky application.
This emerges from files that "Vijesti" has access to, which state that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) and members of the Special Police Department (SPO) have been investigating this criminal organization for months.
In May, the SDT issued an order to conduct an investigation against Baćović, Đonović, Tišma, Leon, Kristijan and Viktor Drešaj, and Vjekoslav Lambulić, for the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession, and trafficking of narcotic drugs.
Giles Adams, John Precha and Man Wa were previously convicted in Australia for attempting to smuggle almost two tons of cocaine.
The expensive white powder was seized in 2020 on the trawler “Coralynne”, about 150 nautical miles off the coast of New South Wales. Investigators then found 1.886,55 kilograms of cocaine in the ship’s hull.
The ship carrying soldiers from Vlaović's drug clan - Giles Adams, John Precha and Man Wa - had previously sailed about 190 nautical miles east of Newcastle and was due to return to that Australian city.
"The evidence collected so far during the investigation points to an undoubted conclusion of the existence of a reasonable suspicion that during 2020, in Montenegro, Colombia, Ecuador, Australia, Belgium and other countries, aware of their intended acts and knowing that their acts were prohibited, the now deceased Goran Vlaović... together with the currently unidentified organizer of the criminal organization, organized a criminal organization whose members included the defendants Radomir Baćović, Ivan Đonović, Milan Tišma, Leon Drešaj, Kristijan Drešaj, Viktor Drešaj, Vjekoslav Lambulić, convicted Jackson Ross Giles Adams and Christopher John Preča, citizens of Australia, and convicted Chan Man Wa, a citizen of the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China - Hong Kong, as well as other currently unidentified persons," the files state.
Organizers procured both drugs and soldiers
It was explained that the criminal organization aimed to commit an unspecified number of criminal offenses, including the unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs.
"...Whereas each member of the criminal organization had a predetermined or obviously determinable task and role, and the activities of the criminal organization were planned for an unlimited period of time and based on the application of precisely defined rules of internal control and discipline of members, and the activities of the criminal organization were planned and implemented on an international scale, in such a way that the now deceased Goran Vlaović determined for himself that, alone or together and by prior agreement with another, now unidentified organizer of the criminal organization who used the account with the code CE428Q and the account with the code DJOCE7 on the SKY Ecc application, in order to implement the criminal plan, in the territory of Colombia and Ecuador, he would make unauthorized purchases for the purpose of sale, and then, for the same purpose, by sea, via ocean-going ships, for the purpose of sale, he would transport the narcotic drug cocaine to the territory of Australia, Belgium and other countries without authorization," the prosecutors explain.
According to the prosecution's version, Vlaović was in charge of purchasing cocaine in Colombia and Ecuador and sending it by ocean-going ships to Australia, Belgium and other markets.
His as-yet unidentified partner played another key role - together with Vlaović, he found suppliers in South America, arranged the purchase and delivery of cocaine, recruited people, and organized the preparation of the drug for transport.
Investigators claim that through people under his control, he provided tools and equipment for hiding cocaine on ships, organized its storage and delivery to the coast of Ecuador.
From there, the drugs were transported by smaller vessels to ocean-going ships on the high seas, where they were reloaded and continued their journey to their final destinations.
According to the SDT, Vlaović's unidentified associate was also the key link between the heads of the organization and the people on the ground - the "operators" who transported the cocaine to ocean-going ships and organized its loading for the onward journey.
Who is in the network?
Everyone who was identified by the SDT as part of Vlaović's cocaine network was previously known to regional and international investigators.
Radomir Boban Baćović, from Nikšić, has been mentioned in security records and media reports since the 1990s as one of the most important names in the Montenegrin underworld, and after the liquidations Igor Dedović i Jovan Vukotić He was identified as one of the people who took over the leadership of the Skaljari cell of the Balkan drug cartel.
The SDT indictment against him has already been confirmed, according to which, back in 2015, he organized a criminal group responsible for murders, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
For years, Đonović has been identified as one of the key people in the Bar branch of the Škalja clan, and it was previously reported that he had moved part of his drug dealing from Montenegro to Belgrade and Spain.
Baranin Milan Tišma was arrested in Athens in 2019 in an operation that seized more than 104 kilograms of cocaine and 828.565 euros.
The Drešaj family from Tuzi has been a special criminal structure for years. In the police assessment of the threat of serious and organized crime - SOCTA, Leon and Viktor Drešaj were identified as the leaders of a closed family criminal group whose dominant activities are the smuggling of marijuana and cigarettes, and then cocaine. Investigators stated that the members of the group are connected by family ties, long-standing trust and common financial interest. Leon's son Kristijan Drešaj is also part of this structure.
All three are charged in the “General” case, in which the SDT charges them with being responsible, along with other defendants, for the international smuggling of cocaine from South America to Europe and Australia.
Vjekoslav Lambulić has also been the subject of investigations for years for international drug trafficking. Since October 2023, he has been in custody on suspicion of creating a criminal organization and drug trafficking, and is also included in the indictment in the “General” case.
Baćović, Đonović, Tišma, Leon and Kristijan Drešaj are on the run, while Viktor Drešaj and Lambulić are already in custody in other cases.
Goran Vlaović - Goro, a man from Novalja, has been identified for years as an important link in the Škalja crime gang. He was killed on August 25, 2022, on the island of Pag. Because of this liquidation Duško Tanasković was sentenced to 19 years in prison for that murder.
Property seized from the Đonovićs
The property of Ivan Đonović and his family members was temporarily blocked and seized by decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica, at the proposal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), due to suspicion that it was acquired through criminal activity.
According to the files that "Vijesti" has access to, this decision was made by investigative judge Suzana Mugoša, in the procedure for confiscating property gains acquired through criminal activity, in the case against seven people charged by the SDT with creating a criminal organization and smuggling two tons of cocaine.
Special prosecutors proposed, and the court accepted, to block a 17-square-meter garage in Podgorica, plots in Bar of 549 and 46 square meters, a 919-square-meter meadow, a 220-square-meter forest, and a 449-square-meter field in Crmnica, which are registered in the name of Đonović's wife.
A 45-square-meter apartment in Podgorica, registered to the company "Alexander&Una" owned by her, has also been blocked, and a "Landrover" belonging to the fugitive Skaljarc, as well as a "Mini Cooper" owned by his wife, have also been temporarily seized.
Ivan Đonović's wife is prohibited from disposing of the company "Alexander&Una" - because there is a reasonable suspicion that the aforementioned property and movables were acquired through criminal activity.
The court rejected the SDT's proposal to temporarily block a three-bedroom apartment owned by Đonović's wife in Podgorica and two garages in the same building.
"Because there is no reasonable suspicion that the said property was acquired through criminal activity."
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