Police officers in Montenegro are allegedly involved in cocaine smuggling, with several of them already taken into custody. On Wednesday evening (March 22), Dejan Knežević, the deputy director responsible for fighting organized crime at the Montenegrin Police Directorate, was arrested. Knežević is reportedly linked to members of a recently apprehended criminal gang, who have been charged by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) with creating a criminal organization and drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the Montenegrin Minister of the Interior announced that a person believed to be one of the world’s most well-known and wanted fugitives has been arrested.

Did one of the top police chiefs commit a crime?

The Montenegrin special police, acting on the instructions of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, arrested the deputy director responsible for fighting organized crime at the Montenegrin Police Directorate on Wednesday evening.

The Montenegrin authorities, in collaboration with Europol, carried out the arrest as part of a planned and coordinated operation that lasted several months.

This is not the first time that local police authorities in the Balkans have only acted following encouragement from Europe.

Moreover, Knežević is not suspected of merely knowing someone who knows someone among the criminals, but specifically of having created a criminal organization and committed other criminal offenses himself.

The deputy director responsible for fighting organized crime at the Montenegrin Police Directorate has been placed in 72-hour pre-trial detention after being questioned by prosecutors on Thursday.

His lawyer has stated that the police leader did not admit to committing any crimes and believes that all the evidence presented by the prosecution is unfounded.

Knežević has held important positions in the Montenegrin police for a long time, previously leading the anti-drug trafficking department before becoming the deputy director responsible for fighting organized crime in early March 2021.

Police officers caught smuggling cocaine

Knežević is not the first official to be apprehended recently. Goran Stojanović, who is believed to have been a member of the Kavač clan as well as a police officer, was arrested a few days ago. Two other police officers, one of whom is suspected to have been the bodyguard of Balkan drug lord Darko Šarić’s brother, have also been put behind bars.

In Montenegro, a total of five individuals are currently in custody, while 17 others are suspected of being involved in the smuggling of three tons of cocaine. The majority of those involved were either police officers or are currently employed by the police force.

In connection with the case, Acting Prime Minister Dritan Abazović stated that the cocaine, mostly smuggled by police officers, is worth over 100 million euros. 

– said Abazović who believes that the action taken by the special prosecutor’s office will have a seismic impact on the Kavač and Škaljar clans, as well as individuals associated with them.

– said the Acting Prime Minister, alluding to the current President, Milo Đukanović.

In addition to police officers and former government officials, there are also „businessmen” among the suspects who are allegedly involved in laundering the money through their companies. The investigation is ongoing.

„Đukanović and the Kavač Clan”

Prior to last Sunday’s presidential election, Executive Prime Minister Abazović spoke out about Montenegrin President Milo Ðukanović’s priorities, stating that the current president values preserving the Kavač clan more than winning the election.

– said Abazović, adding that the current president is already too late in doing so.

– Abazović said, suggesting that his government has already handed over the relevant evidence to the European law enforcement agency.

The police kidnapped people

Meanwhile, the Europol has released new shocking information that Montenegrin police officers have abducted, beaten, and tortured people, then boasted about it to known criminals.

According to the European law enforcement agency, at least 14 members (names withheld by the editorial team) of the former special operations and support unit under the command of Mirko Banović carried out torture, participated in such crimes, or knew about their commission.

According to intercepted communication on encrypted phones, the police officers kept the abducted people in secret apartments, where they were subjected to inhumane treatment, beaten, tortured, had guns placed in their mouths, received electric shocks, were strangled, and humiliated.

Rendőri fojtogatás, ahogy azt a Sky applikáció megőrizte (Forrás: LibertasPress)

According to Montenegrin news portal Libertas, two police officers, Petar Lazović and Jugoslav Jugo Raičević, debated this issue with leaders and members of criminal groups, and often sent them photos of the tortured people.

The leaked information suggests that the police officers informed criminal group leaders such as Radoje Zvicer, Darko Šarić, and Nikola Spasojević about these „heroic acts,” but they also had contact with Šarić’s group members, as well as Serbian criminals Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković.

Libertas reports that the Montenegrin police officers in question had daily contact with various criminal circles while also dealing with cigarette and drug smuggling.

The Montenegrin Police Directorate declined to respond to journalists’ questions regarding whether any proceedings had been initiated against any of the individuals listed by Europol, and if so, when and with whom.

World-shaking Arrest

In a Twitter announcement on Thursday afternoon, Filip Adžić, the Minister of Interior of Montenegro and member of the Prime Minister’s Movement, revealed that the Montenegrin police have arrested one of the most wanted fugitives in the world.

This was the icing on the cake, as Adžić himself belongs to the ruling party. Adžić identified the suspect as Do Kwon, a South Korean citizen and co-founder and CEO of the Singapore-based company Terraform Labs.

He stated that Kwon was responsible for over $40 billion in losses and that he had been detained at the Podgorica airport.

– Adžić wrote on Twitter. He added that Kwon Do or Do Kwon was wanted by South Korea, the United States, and Singapore.

The Montenegrin Minister of Interior stated that they are waiting for official confirmation of the suspect’s identity.

The Montenegrin Ministry of Interior later announced that they had detained two South Korean citizens, Kwon Do-Hyung and Hon Chang Joon, at the Podgorica airport for using forged Costa Rican passports to board a flight to Dubai.

– the Montenegrin Ministry of Interior stated in its announcement. The Ministry also revealed that there is no record of the two South Koreans entering Montenegro, which suggests that they may have illegally crossed the border, for example from Serbia.

Last year, there were suspicions that Do Kwon had been hiding in Serbia for some time, but these claims were never substantiated. It is likely that they were using false identities there, as well.