Suspect arrested in cross-border Balkan drug smuggling investigation

27 November 2024 , 20:05

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Suspect arrested in cross-border Balkan drug smuggling investigation

Authorities in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia collaborate in a Europol-backed operation targeting an organized criminal group accused of smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe. One suspect has been arrested, with more arrests expected.

Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday conducted searches across the country and arrested one person suspected of heading an organized crime group that shipped large quantities of cocaine from South America to Europe via the Balkans.  

The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said the operation, conducted under the auspices of Europol, spanned Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia and targeted suspects who used maritime shipping to transport cocaine and communicated for an extended period using the encrypted app SKY Ecc “with the aim of gaining unlawful financial benefits,” SIPA stated.  

Parallel investigations in Bosnia and Croatia determined that in March 2021, the group transported 574 kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador to the Croatian port of Ploče. Croatian police seized the narcotics during a search conducted at the time.  

SIPA confirmed that Tuesday’s operation involved searches in the cities of Banja Luka, Mostar, and Trebinje. It added that certain items were discovered and seized, which could be used as evidence, though it did not specify the nature of the items.  

Police in Croatia and Serbia have not commented on the operation.  

Although SIPA has not officially identified the suspect arrested in the operation, codenamed “General,” local media reported that it may be Zdravko Šagolj, a former general of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), a Bosnian Croat military formation during the country’s 1992-95 war who had been arrested earlier this year but then released only to be allegedly re-arrested again on Tuesday. 

In April, SIPA conducted a separate operation, codenamed “Paravan” (“Cover”), in the Mostar area, targeting Šagolj and two others on charges of “organized crime,” “illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs,” and “illicit trafficking of weapons, military equipment, and dual-use products.”  

During that operation, police seized nearly a kilogram of cocaine, four automatic rifles, a 7.65 mm pistol with 20 rounds of ammunition, 12 grenades for a handheld grenade launcher, three electric detonator caps, an anti-personnel mine, 90 rounds of automatic rifle ammunition, and cash totaling 44,000 convertible marks ($23,622) and 6,000 euros ($6,300).

Elizabeth Baker