Serbia: Cocaine Investigation Sparks Controversy Belgrade | 11 February 2010 | Pedja Obradovic
Cocaine smuggling, ISN Security Watch, Dulue Mbachu Ivica Dacic, Serbian deputy prime minister and interior minister, said he would not rule out his possible resignation if media speculation about his associate's links with Darko Saric, an alleged cocaine smuggler, turn out to be true. An investigation into an alleged criminal group led by businessman Darko Saric, who is of Montenegrin origin but holds Serbian citizenship, was launched after 2.1 tons of high quality cocaine were seized off the coast of Uruguay in October last year following a joint investigation by Serbian Security Services and the US Drug Enforcement Agency. Allegedly, the contraband was destined for western Europe, via Montenegro and Serbia. Saric is currently at large and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Local media have reported that Nikola Dimitrijevic, a relative of Dacic’s senior advisor, Branko Lazarevic, is connected with people close to Darko Saric. "No individual can be above the law. I have already given an order to investigate these allegations. My stance is that there is no place in the police for those who are engaged in crime, regardless of their position," the minister said. The wider investigation may jeopardise the already fragile relationship between Belgrade and Podgorica, as some suspects are citizens of neighbouring Montenegro. Montenegrin police arrested Goran Sokovic and Dejan Sekularac, both Montenegrins, on a warrant issued by the Belgrade Interpol office in connection with the case, but they were later released from prison in Podgorica just after midnight on February 10th. The two were released after the Montenegrin state prosecution assessed on Tuesday that there were no grounds for starting criminal proceedings against them in Montenegro, as Serbia had failed to deliver any evidence. Serbian Special Prosecutor for Organised Crime, Miljko Radisavljevic, said that sending the Saric case evidence to Montenegro at this stage “could seriously jeopardise the investigation in Serbia”. He pointed out that the Montenegrin State Prosecutor's request that Serbia turn over the evidence against Sokovic and Sekularac was not denied, but rather delayed in order not to hinder the Serbian investigation. Radisavljevic noted that the Serbian investigation, which initially involved three suspects, is currently looking into a total of 24 people. “This means that the number of persons, criminal offenses and activities being investigated is constantly rising, and is not yet final,” he said. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/25758/
