Among the owners of the Macedonian medical cannabis company "Alphapharm", from whose premises in Skopje around nine tons of marijuana were seized, are Serbian citizens connected to companies from Kruševac, not far from where five tons of the drug were seized last week, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Serbia writes today.
BIRN, in its article "From Skopje to Kruševac: Companies and Individuals Connected to Marijuana Cultivation," writes that it has identified another Macedonian cannabis cultivation company, "Green Life," whose owners are also Serbian citizens.
He states that "among them is Aleksandar Mijajlović, whom the Serbian Prosecutor's Office designates as the organizer of the criminal group connected to this seizure."
They recalled that the seizure of five tons of cannabis near Kruševac, in a company linked to local SNS official Rade Spasojević, triggered an investigation into a possible cross-border marijuana trafficking network.
They added that the seizure "has raised questions about the business ties between Serbian and Macedonian cannabis companies and has triggered a chain reaction in North Macedonia."
The Macedonian Interior Ministry announced over the weekend that it was conducting a large-scale operation in which, in addition to more than 40 tons of marijuana, cannabis oil and biomass were seized from several companies in Skopje and the eastern region of the country.
Meanwhile, while the Serbian Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (TOK) claims that the marijuana seized near Kruševac originated in North Macedonia, and Macedonian police continue their seizure operations, the country's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski stated on February 8 that there is currently no information that the marijuana found in Serbia originates from Macedonia at all, BIRN reports.
They stated that, "although Macedonian institutions are currently silent about the identity of the companies, based on the location where the search was carried out in Skopje, it can be concluded that it is the company 'Alphapharm', co-owned by Ivan Dragnić, one of those arrested in the operation to seize five tons of marijuana near Kruševac."
TOK accuses him of having played a key role in organizing the transport of marijuana from North Macedonia to Serbia.
The investigation by BIRN Serbia and BIRN North Macedonia shows, as they stated, that behind this case lies a wider network of business and ownership connections between companies registered for the cultivation of medical cannabis in North Macedonia and numerous Serbian citizens, mainly from Kruševac.
BIRN stated that it had also determined that the name of Aleksandar Mijajlović, who is on the run and whom the Serbian TOK identifies as the organizer of the group, appears in the ownership links of another Macedonian cannabis company, "Green Life" from Valandovo, through the Kruševac company "Bio Naturals".
The question arises, the text says, whether legal cannabis cultivation flows in North Macedonia have been used as a front for an illegal market, as well as whether such operations can be carried out without the tacit or active support of parts of the government in both countries.
Serbian TOK, they added, is conducting an investigation against Aleksandar Mijajlović, identified as the group's organizer, who is on the run, as well as against Ivan Dragnić, Nebojša and Rade Spasojević, and Uroš Mladenovski.
TOK suspects that the drugs seized near Kruševac were purchased in North Macedonia and transported to Serbia, and that Dragnić played a key role in taking over the marijuana and organizing its transport.
It is particularly noteworthy that Dragnić is a co-owner of the Macedonian company "Alphapharm" from Skopje, registered for the production of medical cannabis.
BIRN also stated that it had seen an order to conduct an investigation, which suspects the five of them of having organized a chain of supply, storage and distribution of marijuana during January.
While the investigation in Serbia is ongoing, BIRN Serbia and BIRN Macedonia have analyzed, as stated in the text, business connections leading to North Macedonia.
According to BIRN, the company "Alphapharm" was founded in late July 2023 in Skopje, and its founders included Ivan Dragnić, Predrag Brković, Jovana Mijajlović, Aleksandar Milošević, all from Kruševac, as well as Robert Živković, Dragan Krstev and Daniel Savasci, who is an Austrian citizen.
BIRN's investigation has revealed connections between the Skopje-based company "Alphapharm" and another Macedonian company registered for the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes - the company "Green Life" from Valandovo.
These two companies are connected by two individuals – one who is the former co-owner of "Alphapharma" and the other who is mentioned in the investigation of the Serbian TOK.
The co-owner of "Green Life" today, through the company "Bio Naturals" from Kruševac, is Aleksandar Mijajlović, whom TOK Serbia identifies as the organizer of a group connected to the smuggling of five tons of marijuana stored near Kruševac.
Macedonian citizen Dragan Krstev, former co-owner of Alphapharma, was the director of Green Life from January 2022 to August 2023.
BIRN also stated that it did not receive answers to questions sent to email addresses of companies in Serbia related to the ownership structure of Macedonian companies registered for cannabis cultivation.
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