This trend was directed due to a combination of economic and political circumstances and it will likely continue in the future. The worldwide turnover of the cocaine contraband is difficult to be estimated accurately, with figures up to 500 billion USD. The majority of these ill gains are “laundered” eventually through the legal international banking and finance system, whilst the influence of the cocaine cartels is all-encompassing internationally and in the Balkans in particular due to the sheer amount of capital they generate.
Montenegro is a major transit hub for cocaine trade where Latin American criminal networks cooperate with Southern Italian “Mafia” groups and Albanian and “Yugoslavian” drug kingpins.
Cocaine is being transported via small and mid-sized vessels, often used just for one voyage and incorporated in offshore tax heavens owned by maverick ship owners. Numerous cases have proved the link between the transfer of cocaine from mostly Colombia, Panama and Venezuela to Montenegro through Western African ports in Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The ports of Lisbon, Malaga, Marseilles, Palermo, Napoli, and Bari are often used as destination hubs or as intermediate routes. The same networks make use of the “airport route” of Milano, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Madrid, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Rome and Vienna. The proliferation of tourist destinations, low budget airlines and peripheral international airports, as well as the border-free Schengen zone agreement has greatly assisted in the cocaine trade in Europe.
Europol has noted since the early 2000′s the formation of stable transport routes in the Balkans for the re-distribution of the drug to other markets, as well as, for the increased local consumption. The existence of well-formed organized crime networks previously or currently involved in human trafficking, heroin trade and tobacco contraband, provided ample human resources, experienced in dealing with the shadowy world of illicit organized activities. Moreover the lax in border controls in the region between Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia due to the recent political history, and the widespread corruption in customs and border controls, was also another strong impetus.
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| Thessaloniki |
The importance for the Colombians concerning the Balkans is it's proximity to the big Western European markets (Italy, Germany, UK, France, Portugal). The corrupted public sector and the existence of very powerful criminal groups that agree to use their countries as bases for the export of this drug.
Outline
Merchant ships load cocaine from Columbia, Venezuela and arrive at the aforementioned ports. Then the “product” is packaged and stored in warehouses and then the “product” is divided, a percentage remains in the home market and the remainder travels via trucks, commercial trains or vessels onward to Western Europe.
Lastly the Colombian cartels have a very strong base in Spain and in the Netherlands, where Balkan groups also operate and communication lines between them are established in these territories, before decisions for the shipments are being made.
The bulk of the cocaine arriving in ports of Montenegro is destined for European markets and the local Balkan ones. The Kosovo territory plays an important role because shipments are often gathered there and then are distributed in the north from Bosnia or Serbia to Croatia and Hungary and then to Western-Central Europe.
Other shipments travel to the South through Albania and Greece and then to Western Europe mainly through vessels. Lastly there is the route from Greek ports up North via the Balkans towards central Europe.
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| Joca Amsterdam |
Europe is certainly a prime destination for Latin American cocaine traders, for two reasons. One is the rise of Euro against the Dollar since 2003. The latter is the currency used in all Americas, so the smugglers earn a harder currency (The Euro) which they exchange for Dollars thus increasing their financial strength. The second reason is the unification of Europe and the non-existent border controls in an area of almost 500 hundred million people that created over the past decade tremendous opportunities for all kinds of organized illegal activities. The police authorities in many European countries proved ineffective to deal with this kind of situation.
In July 2011 169.8 kilos of cocaine was confiscated in the port of Thessaloniki, originating from Bolivia. The Greek and Serbian authorities were involved in the interception and surveillance of the international smuggling network of Darko Simovic, Serbian national, aged 51 years old who has arranged the shipment. Thirteen people were arrested regarding the case. The shipment was coming under the cover of a soya cargo. Three people appeared to claim the cargo and were subsequently arrested, which subsequently revealed their accomplices. The price of that shipment was worth over 25 million Euros.
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| Darko Saric |
According to Serbian authorities, Darko Šarić was leader of powerful Balkan criminal organization which had been trafficking cocaine from South America via West Africa through the Balkans, Italy and Slovenia to Western Europe and had was making around billion euros each year. Šarić also, pocketed 30 millions Euro when he sold Serbia's leading distribution company ŠTAMPA SISTEM to the German media concern WAZZ.
Darko Šarić was virtually unknown outside criminal circles until October 2009 when more than 2 tons of cocaine was seized near the Uruguayan coast. A list of Šaric companies shows that he laundered money by investing in hotels in Serbia,property and cigarette smuggling. Šaric also controlled other companies in Serbia and Montenegro which were involved in various activities, from media and construction to kindergartens and night clubs. Darko Šarić fled before he was arrested, but some of his associates now live in Montenegro where the government has so far not acted to arrest them and extradite them to countries where they are wanted. Darko Šarić's real assets in Serbia have been seized by the state but he still allegedly has property in Montenegro.
In January 2012 the Greek police arrested four Montenegrin citizens in Athens involved in a massive money laundering case on behalf of the cocaine cartel run by the Serbian-Montenegrin national Darko Saric. The four were in their 20′s studying as a cover in Greek private colleges while they were involved in laundering Saric’s funds received from the Latin American cartels. In their premises in a wealthy Athenian suburb evidence was found implicating them in a 20 million Euros laundering scheme over the last three years. Hundreds of thousands of Euros were also found in cash along with valuable luxury items and expensive real estate.
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| Damjan Dudić and Srdana Dudić |
Rodoljub Radulović, 63, is among the leadership of Šarić’s criminal enterprise, controlling shipping routes in South America and Europe and running transactions through proxies and shell companies in the Cayman Islands, Serbia, and the Americas. Argentinian prosecution records and Greek police statements obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project show that Radulović and Šarić are targeted by British investigators, the U.S. DEA and South American prosecutors.
Citing a confidential report received from the British Serious Organized Crime Agency, Argentinian investigative files provide details of the drug operation and alsoreveal that they tracked a string of Serbians and other nationals of the former Yugoslavia who operated out of Argentina. The Argentine documents span from April, 2009 until March of 2010 and include confidential correspondence between South American and Serbian police, passport information and surveillance. The reports show that Šarić, a fugitive suspected of operating a large international drug ring, travelled from Brazil to Argentina by airplane and automobile in 2007 and 2008. He apparently used a Slovenian and Slovakian passport.
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| Rodoljub Radulović |
The records also say Šarić and Radulović disguised their smuggled cocaine on ships carrying legal cargo such as sugar and cement. The ships are listed as the Verti and the Golden is registered in Liberia. In total, the reports show at least eight men from the Balkans participated in the smuggling, including one who Argentine investigators said was a missionary for the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Rodoljub Radulović never had much trouble making friends, partners or money. He built a business reputation by building companies in Russia, Austria, the United States and elsewhere, and arrived back in Belgrade in the early 2000s ready to deal. He bragged openly about his success in the U.S., attracting Balkan partners who helped him build a banana import business, hotels, a casino, and real estate holdings.
Investigators and prosecutors in Greece, KOLING headquarters - place where Radulovic registered his companies South America and elsewhere are or have investigated Radulović and fugitive drug trafficker Darko Šarić as leaders of a sprawling and lucrative cocaine cartel , according to investigative records obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Šarić who was indicted in Belgrade in 2010 and remains a fugitive, and Radulović, who has been charged in Greece but nowhere else, could not be reached for comment.
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| Dudić |
Today, two of his Balkan business partners are dead. One was a drug middleman shot to death in broad daylight in a Montenegrin café, the other committed suicide under crushing debt. Radulović’s whereabouts are unknown. An OCCRP investigation of court documents, police reports, investigative filings and property records from five countries reveals Radulović’s alleged drug activities were happening as he built connections with several prominent people, including:
Milomir Joksimović, owner of more than 100 companies and friend of imprisoned mob leader Joca Amsterdam
Bogdan Rodić, part of a retail dynasty who is a partner of Radulović in a €1.2 million building in the town of Pančevo
Dragan Dudić, accused drug trafficker and the owner of Port Risan, a seaport near Kotor in Montenegro. Radulović turned virtually all of his assets over to Dudić in 2006, and Dudić was gunned down four years later.
Maksut Ćatović, who produced many famous Serbian movies including ‘’Underground.’’ He also brought stars such as Luciano Pavarotti, Madonna, Sting, Metalica and AC/DC to
play in Belgrade
Milan Zukanović, who operated real estate and construction businesses for two decades until last month when he shot himself in the head
Slavko Despot, an exclusive importer of Cuban cigars
Andrija Krlović, Šarić’s lawyer who was indicted last year for money laundering
Tennis and TV production
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| Milomir Joksimović |
Radulović established Bana King with two prominent Serbs, Milomir Joksimović, known as Miša Omega, and Slavko Despot, a leading importer of Cuban cigars, business registry records show.Joksimović was also a friend to feared and brutal crime figure Sreten Jocić, aka Joca Amsterdam, and was a guest on Jocić’s 45th birthday on Oct. 27, 2007, according to 2009 testimony at Jocić’s trial in Belgrade. Jocić is in jail for ordering a murder and is awaiting trial for the assassination of Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanić.
Slavko Despot, Radulović’s other partner in Bana King, is the owner of Julieta, one of Serbia’s largest importers of Cuban cigars, and owns Casa de Habano in Serbia and Bosnia and Julieta, a restaurant in Belgrade. Julieta Company is owned by the offshore company Alpha Management Consultants LLC based in Delaware , which is owned by Despot who also has power of attorney over it.
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| Goran Soković in Red |
Then last year, Greek police arrested two of Dudić’s children and charged them with laundering drug money for Šarić and Radulović.
OCCRP has obtained documents in Belgrade showing that at the time of his murder, Dudić was under investigation in Serbia where he was seen as one of leaders of cocaine
smuggling network. A special prosecutor in Serbia told OCCRP that the investigation opened in January 2010 and lasted until his death.
Exclusive police documents obtained by OCCRP shows that Dudić was considered an
Dragan Dudić integral part of Šarić’s gang: ‘’Dudić, along with Šarić Darko, Soković Goran, Vujanović Željko and several unknown persons, organized this crime group,’’ the document
said.
In June, 2009, three years after he took control of Radulović ’s company, Dudić provided €265,000 in cash to buy a yacht that was supposed to be used in drug trafficking, according to records of the investigation. In October, 2009, Argentina police intercepted the yacht off the coast of Uraguay and seized more than two tons of cocaine.
In March 2011 200 kilos of cocaine were seized in Durres port in Albania, the shipment had used Spain as an intermediate stop. Subsequently the operation resulted in the seizure of one ton of cocaine and 160 kg of hashish in an international police operation led by the Spanish Civil Guard and coordinated by Europol.
In May 2011 the Greek special tax service and DEA managed to confiscate 290 kilos of cocaine in Thessaloniki being sent via a vessels supposedly transferring wood from Paraguay. Nineteen people from various Balkan countries were arrested whilst the organizer was an Argentinian woman, operating on behalf of a cartel in Buenos Aires.
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| Yacht 'Maui'used for smuggling 2 tons of cocaine |
In July 2012 the Greek police in Thessaloniki managed to confiscate 168 kilos of cocaine and arrest two Spanish nationals, one Portuguese and one Bulgarian hotel owner. They were responsible for importing the shipment and were extremely careful of not being spotted by changing hotels each night and using pre-paid mobile phones originating from Poland. They used taxis and public transport for their movements in the region while waiting for their shipments. According to the Greek police , the DEA had informed them that Colombian citizens were actually in Thessaloniki the previous days arranging for the transfer, being very careful not to get tracked and eventually they managed to get away presumable by venturing North and evading surveillance, unlike their accomplices.
In general since 2007 the Balkan police authorities have scaled up their efforts to confiscate large amounts of cocaine, although the flow is actually growing judging by the figures of the health authorities on addiction levels across the region and similar findings across Europe. Despite the modernization of police methods, training and cooperation with international authorities, the lure of quick profits and the existence of large customer base, provides no optimism for a solution on the issue in the near future.
Moreover the increased consumption of cocaine in the Istanbul metropolis by an affluent upper middle class and the introduction of this drug to Russia in even larger quantities may actually increase Balkans importance for the cocaine cartels, as an ideal geo-economic hub for this illicit trade. Lastly the complexity of organized crime activities in the Balkan region has further increased with the involvement of American cocaine cartels, making global organized crime interpersonal connections even stronger. Thus it can be safely assumed that nowadays heroin traffickers, using the “Balkan route”, Colombian cartels and a nexus of corrupted officials from Greece to Croatia, form a formidable network of persons known to each other, with access to great amounts of capital and ability to influence local decision makers, as well as, international power centres be it economic or political ones.