After the Special Court in Belgrade sentenced Darko Saric to 20 years in prison for smuggling several tons of cocaine from Latin America to Europe, it is time that the Montenegrin prosecution deals with that part of the job relating to cocaine cartel which operated on the territory of Montenegro.
Although a good part of Saric’s team of helpers and associates was included in the indictment and now with the verdict of the Belgrade Special Court, this institution did not deal with what was happening in Montenegro. Data obtained last year by MANS exploring business of Saric’s cocaine cartel in Montenegro show that this criminal group maintained very close contacts with individuals from the Government of Montenegro, but also the ruling DPS.
Research of MANS and regional network of investigative journalists – OCCRP showed that the companies of Darko Saric, and he himself, were one of the most important customers of the First bank owned by the family of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and that the bank often violated bank rules in order to meet interests of its clients, with great suspicion that some transactions made through its accounts were used to money launder from cocaine smuggling. Data that we obtained in the study show that Saric was a guarantor of the loan that the First bank issued to the company Sun Investiments, which in the bank is associated with Stanko Subotic, a close friend of Prime Minister Djukanovic.
In addition, research has shown that the companies of Darko Saric in the previous period operated and with the Municipality of Budva, through the President of DPS in Budva Boro Lazovic, and that Saric through a local company established for this purpose, tried by cheating to get to valuable construction land of the football club Mogren. Saric’s company “NOVA STAR CG” which was to serve as a cover is then directed by Blagota Radulovic, Assistant of Minister Petar Ivanovic, and today is listed as CEO of that company. Also, the data we obtained show that the minister Ivanovic himself can be connected with Saric’s cocaine cartel, evidenced by the joint trip of Ivanovic and Saric associate, Jovica Loncar in Paris, at the expense of Saric.
Minister Petar Ivanovic is also associated with the Panamanian company Adriatic Overseas which took over the aforementioned company Sun Investments. Petar Ivanovic was the liaison between the Panamanian lawyers, and lawyer Zorica Djukanovic, from Podgorica, which is known for the diverse client list, starting with the Prime Minister’s brother Aco Djukanovic, through the aforementioned Jovica Loncar, to the widow of Fric Dudic, another Saric’s associate.
MANS in April last year, to the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime and Corruption filed a criminal complaint which requested to investigate the activities of a cocaine cartel led by Darko Saric , and also to examine businesses and all other relations which this drug boss held with members of the executive branch and high political officials of DPS.
What specifically was the role of the Minister Ivanovic, why the air ticket was paid to him, and what did he do on the flight with cocaine traffickers, as well as why Ivanovic’s home address is used for business correspondence between companies and individuals who are associated with Stanko Subotic and Darko Saric, Montenegrin Prosecution still failed to figure out. The Prosecution has no answer to the question of what lies behind the fact that a high-ranking government official, is at the same time a head of the company that deals with international smuggling of cocaine.
Although, at least formally, the investigation was initiated, there is no answer to the question what were the connections between Saric and the DPS in Budva, in the case of SC Mogren. Finally, the Prosecution has not yet said anything about the doubt that the bank owned by a brother of Prime Minister Djukanovic was used to launder dirty money earned through the sale of cocaine.
We think that the Prosecution must answer, as soon as possible, these questions and completely unmask the links between organized crime and authorities, because now there is not the slightest doubt that the cocaine cartel of Darko Saric for its suspicious activities had logistical and other support at the top from Montenegrin authorities.
MANS expects the newly established Special Prosecution will give absolute priority to criminal charges that we have filed more than one year ago, and that exactly they will be the very first real test of their competence and independence.
Dejan Milovac
Director of the Research Center of MANS
