Law enforcement agencies conclude that there were 8 to 10, and perhaps more, dangerous criminal organizations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina that leave corpses behind, sell large quantities of cocaine, and have enormous wealth. In addition, they are connected to dangerous clans from Serbia and Montenegro. They pay 200,000 euros for one murder. Boris Grubešić, head of the Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented this information on Nova dan N1 television.
A large number of them, as well as their misdeeds, some of which are monstrous, were discovered thanks to the work of Sky and Anom application. A large number of cases were also initiated.
Viewers of N1 will have the opportunity for the first time to see all the correspondence from these cases as part of the film “The Curtain Has Fallen”, which will be broadcast on Saturday, January 31 at 8 p.m. The film was produced by the Balkan Research Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and police and security agencies from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Enormous riches and connections
Grubešić reminded N1 that the story about cases with evidence from the Sky application began during the coronavirus pandemic, but that some stories remained in the shadows precisely because of all those events both in BiH and in the world and the large number of deaths from corona.
“Below the surface and far from the eyes of the public, a big battle is taking place. Law enforcement agencies receive from partner institutions from one country packages with information about the communications of members of organized criminal groups. There were, say, hundreds of thousands of Sky phones, or encrypted phones in the world. Some analyzes showed that between two and three thousand of these phones were active in Bosnia and Herzegovina. People who use these applications mostly do so for some criminogenic motives, to hide some illegal business, crime, organized crime. Law enforcement agencies approximately conclude that there are 8 to 10, possibly more, dangerous criminal organizations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are focused on the area of, for example, Banjaluka, Gradiška, Prijedor – let’s say two or three dangerous criminal organizations that have already left behind some murders and some corpses in those clashes. Then there is a group that operates in the area of Bijeljina, which is connected because of the proximity of Serbia and Croatia near the border with the region. Two or three groups that operate in the area of Sarajevo, one or two that operate in the area of Trebinje and Mostar, then some connections with Doboj, with the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina… We realized that there is a lot of crime and criminal organizations that operate,” Grubešić told N1.
“20 people from law enforcement agencies linked to BiH clans”
He stated that after prosecuting cases such as Turković, Lutka and Volan where they fought with the auto mafia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have very serious cases before them and that they are dangerous groups that smuggle tens of kilograms of narcotics, acquire enormous wealth in the millions of euros and buy a huge number of real estate, expensive vehicles, business premises, land, etc.
“And what was particularly difficult, we discovered that so far more than 20 officials from law enforcement agencies were connected with them and participated in the commission of criminal acts. It was about an ordinary border policeman who delivered information when patrols were going near the border, to some people who had positions, quite high positions in the ministries of the interior, police structures, and even to the deprivation of liberty of an active judge in the judicial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it was seen that there is a lot of this and stories “This fight has been going on for 3 years. So far, there are about 20 defendants, we already have final verdicts against 104 or 105 people, we already have pleas of guilty,” said Grubešić.
He stated that they have cooperation with colleagues from France, the Netherlands and the USA, and that it is a big story about the fight against organized crime and corruption in BiH, which has been going on for the past 3-4 years.
Shocking messages and materials
All law enforcement agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina at all levels worked on that “story”, as well as partners from the region and the world. However, when the police finish their work, it is the Prosecutor’s Office’s turn. Grubešić points out that the process leading to the indictment and verdict is complex and difficult.
“It was necessary to obtain certain evidence from abroad through international legal aid. It was necessary to support it with additional evidence. However, what is important to investigate is that in 2021 we received information about some events and happenings that took place in 2019 and 2020. So, we retroactively received some of that information and the story about the fight and the Skype cases. It is not just a story about BiH, it is a story of the region. In Serbia, for example, Belivuk and others, some of the biggest cases of organized crime, perhaps even dangerous criminal organizations, are now being processed before the court of Serbia. Montenegro has Kavački and Skaljarski clan in which 60 to 70 people were killed in brutal executions, in public places, in restaurants, in car bombs. We are dealing with organized criminal groups that take out 100,000 euros or 200,000 euros from one pocket and pay for one murder. So, this is the information that was obtained through the Sky application. This is what certain members of organized criminal groups who carry out the liquidation say. “There were four, well, how much will they pay for those who shot, how much will they pay for those who kept watch”, he cited examples.
“High-ranking” members from BiH and the region in Bolivia, Colombia, etc. countries, through money they rule
He points out that they trade in large quantities of cocaine and that they are well networked with some people from BiH, Serbia and Croatia, who are in the territory of Colombia, Bolivia, South America and who are considered “high-ranking” in that world.
“They import these transports, huge transports of cocaine to Europe, to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans, to these areas. And even in Bosnia and Herzegovina we have, for sure, several murders that are connected, that happened, let’s say in 2019 and 2020, and which turn out to be connected to these organized criminal groups. The highlight of their attack on the state was the murder of two police officers of the KS MUP and one of the Republika Srpska MUP in Prijedor. These are the structures that are trying to use the money and the power they have, to try to protect themselves from Sky applications. Believe me, we have seized dozens of apartments, vehicles, and watches that cost a hundred, two hundred or more euros each In Bosnia and Herzegovina, you have settlements where young married couples, the diaspora, are starting to appear. People who don’t have three or four apartments in a complex are suspicious of what kind of situation they are in. We have people who are moving around our streets, who are ready to pay for a murder. you will see in the film, the threats received by the police officers who worked on those cases. After we had the criminal organizations we worked on in 2010, 2011 and so on, there was a small vacuum of 4-5 years automafia. But we knew that somewhere in the underground there were certainly several criminal organizations,” he pointed out.
He said that there are probably a dozen people on the warrants who are hiding, and whose cases they work with countries in the region, Europe and the world.
“We got some through extraditions from Germany, extraditions from Croatia, extraditions from the Czech Republic, from Serbia. So far, 20 indictments have been brought against about 105 people. In those initial operations that started in 2021, 180-200 people were deprived of their freedom. The story with the investigations may be half over,” said Grubešić and announced: “in 2026 and 2027. we will certainly still have new indictments for some new areas in which these criminal organizations operated.”
“In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the tame drug business makes 400,000 KM a day”
He expressed the hope that he will reduce the presence of hard narcotics in BiH, which did not even exist 15-20 years ago.
“Recently, in one case, we had the seizure of, it seems to me, two kilograms of cocaine. And huge money is involved in that business. Through these events from Dayton to here, it is known that, roughly, a kilogram of heroin is equivalent in price to a kilogram of gold. So, it depends on 35, 40, 50 thousand marks. Cocaine is even more expensive. So, when you have a drug scene in Sarajevo, in Banja Luka, in Mostar, when you count the number of potential users, “You come to the conclusion of a simple calculation that 200, 300, 400 thousand marks are made on a daily basis through the drug business. So there is a lot of money at stake and simply healing society from corruption, from organized crime, drug crime, that will be a priority and we hope to succeed as much as possible”, he said.
In the film “The Curtain Has Fallen”, citizens will see for the first time what that communication looked like, what was revealed in the correspondence, but also what their networks look like.
“Sky was expensive, Sky is not cheap. You had to have some of the better mobile phones, it seems to me that three or four types of the most expensive ones could get that installation. And without approximately 4-5 thousand KM you are not on Sky. So, that is a considerable amount for one 6 months, and then you have to pay for the license. It costs about the same as a good car”, he said.
Brutal murders: Paid killers who find temporary refuge in Bosnia and Herzegovina
He states that the most Sky applications were in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and quite a few in Croatia and the least in Slovenia.
“There are no daily calls on Sky. I can’t call you now, there are voice messages, picture messages and so many different options. There were devices that were masked, for example, in the phone’s calculator. There was a panic in which any user just entered a number in one moment and deleted the entire application. What also fascinated us when we saw all these events, when we saw the cooperation with colleagues from the region, means that some executors of the Skaljar and Kavak clan are They were trying to get some fake documents from neighboring countries. They are actually getting a valid BH document, but it has one picture, for example, of a citizen who moved to Australia in 1999 identity documents and it goes through checks, scanners, as a legal document. It’s simply terrible how members of organized criminal groups roamed Bosnia and Herzegovina, how we had a situation where two executioners who are being prosecuted in Serbia for participating in the executions of the Škaljarski and Kavački clans were caught, that such people are moving around Bosnia and Herzegovina. Well, one of the most dangerous murderers, who is being prosecuted in six countries, has killed himself a man was literally on the street next to a child while he was throwing a stroller out of the trunk. He was found in Sarajevo, was deprived of his liberty and prosecuted, I think he was in Zenica prison for illegal possession of a weapon or something like that, so he was extradited to Serbia,” said Grubešić.
BHS languages 4th and 5th most used on the Sky app
He states that Montenegro now has 50 mafia executions that have taken place since 2015, but that in BiH we are lucky that there are fewer of them.
“Look at the case of Belivuk and Miljković. Look at the executions, the removal of corpses, the organizations, the pictures and photographs that shocked people who work in international agencies, Europol, Interpol, etc. These are really very terrible things. The languages from these areas, BHS, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, let’s say Montenegrin, are the fourth and fifth most used on Sky. So, after English and Spanish, which are used the most in those international drug trades, because of South America,” he revealed.
(TYPE/Source: N1/Authors: MB,Ivana Eric/Photo: Illustration/N1)
