The seized drug in Bosnia and Herzegovina is periodically destroyed according to court orders, and such activities have been carried out three times in the past few months, involving huge quantities of narcotics.
The Commission for the Destruction of Narcotic Drugs of the Council of Ministers of BiH explains that the field of storage and destruction of confiscated drugs is governed by the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Abuse of Narcotic Drugs.
“The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Rulebook on the storage and destruction of seized narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, plants from which narcotic drugs and precursors can be obtained. The rulebook prescribes the place and method of storage, as well as the procedure and method of destruction,” said the Commission.
As explained by the Commission, courts determine the place of storage of seized drugs, and destruction is done according to court orders.
The Commission is responsible for the destruction, which consists of one representative each of the Commission for Suppressing the Abuse of Narcotic Drugs of BiH, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of BiH, the Ministry of Justice of BiH, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH and the Ministry of Security of BiH.
“After the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed a new Commission for Drug Destruction in June 2025, a meeting was held with all police agencies where seized drugs are kept. The goal of the meeting is to get to know each other for further coordinated planning and implementation of activities to destroy confiscated drugs deposited in police agencies,” the Commission stated.
They do not have data on the quantities of confiscated drugs
The commission, interestingly, does not have data on the quantities of seized drugs that are in the warehouses of police agencies, and which have been prepared for destruction. Since its establishment, the commission has carried out three destructions of confiscated drugs.
“On October 2, 2025, the Commission, with the support of the Ministry of Security of BiH, the Federal Police Administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska, destroyed the confiscated drugs that were deposited in the premises of the Federal Police Administration. The destruction was carried out based on the orders of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Municipal Court in Sarajevo. On that occasion, about 450 kg of seized drugs, mainly marijuana, and smaller amounts of amphetamine, MDMA and cocaine were destroyed,” said the Commission.
The next destruction took place on December 1, 2025. The drugs that were deposited in the premises of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska in Banja Luka were destroyed.
“Destruction of confiscated drugs was carried out in 536 cases based on the orders of several courts in BiH. On that occasion, 27.5 kg of cannabis, 139 stems of cannabis, 10.5 kg of amphetamine, 355.5 g of heroin, 351.6 g of cocaine and 39.7 g of ecstasy were destroyed,” the Commission said.
The next destruction took place on February 6, 2026, and the drug in question was deposited in the premises of the MUP of Central Bosnia Canton.
“Drugs were destroyed on the basis of orders from 197 cases of the Municipal Court in Kiseljak, the Municipal Court in Bugojno, the Municipal Court in Travnik and the Municipal Court in Jajce, namely 5.8 kg of cannabis, 302 stems of cannabis, 1.9 kg of amphetamine, 9.8 g of heroin, 16.9 g of cocaine, and 3.3 g of 170 pieces of ecstasy,” stated the Commission for “Independent newspaper“.
A word from an expert
Radislav Jovičić, a security expert, points out that all seized quantities of drugs are listed and deposited, and then, when the court proceedings are over, they are destroyed in companies with which the competent Ministry of Security of BiH has signed contracts.
“The public should be more aware of this process, especially in the part when it is destroyed – to say that it is from some items, and that it is leveled, so that it would be possible to know whether all the drugs that were deposited were eventually destroyed or are still kept in some of the places for depositing”, said Jovičić for “Nezavisne novine”.
Journalist Nebojša Tomašević points out that the confiscation of narcotics in Bosnia and Herzegovina is to some extent transparent, because in the announcements of the police agencies it is generally stated how many drugs were confiscated in actions. However, he adds, arrests during which a small amount of drugs are seized often pass under the radar and such news is not reported by all agencies, so we cannot reliably know how many drugs were seized.
“When it comes to the destruction of narcotics, there is almost no transparency and there are sporadic cases in which the public is informed about the process. Mostly it comes to the public thanks to the work of journalists, but that is also quite rare. In most cases, we do not know the methods, procedures, nor when and where the drugs are destroyed, nor what happens to the narcotics that are not destroyed. It mostly passes under the public’s radar,” says Tomašević.
