Serbian Mafia - History

History

In the early 1900s, a known outlaw was Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga, a Hajduk from Slavonia (modern-day Croatia) who joined the "band of mountain birds" (Kolo Gorskih Ptića, tići) a group of robbers who ravaged the countryside of Slavonia. In 1991, the biographical film Čaruga was released. It was the last film ever produced in Yugoslavia.

Ljuba Zemunac was known as the "Godfather" of the Serbian Mafia during the 1970s and 1980s. He and his gang operated in Germany and Italy during this time. He was assassinated in 1986 by the orders of his rival Goran Vuković "Majmun".

Joca Amsterdam operated in the Netherlands and became one of the most powerful gangsters through his elimination of rivals while working as a hitman and took over the drug trade in the Netherlands. The drug that was smuggled was cocaine and it was obtained from contacts in Colombia and earned Amsterdam the name the "Cocaine King". He worked for "Duja" Bećirović as an underboss and later lived in Bulgaria where he successfully smuggled drugs until his arrest in 2002. Upon returning to Serbia, he took over companies by force, utilizing the Surčin clan, (one of three then most powerful "clans" of Belgrade). He was later involved in the 2008 car bombing of Croatian journalists Ivo Pukanić and Niko Franjić.

Later, gangster "Željko Ražnatović Arkan" was a successful bank robber in Western Europe during the 1970s. He had convictions and warrants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. However, he managed to escape from several prisons and then made connections with several known criminals from Yugoslavia during his time there. In the 1980s he returned to Serbia where he became involved with illegal businesses and led the Red Star Belgrade supporters' group Delije Sever Ultras.

The real breakthrough for criminal organizations in Serbia occurred in 1991, when the Yugoslav Wars erupted in Croatia and Bosnia. The Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks fought over territory in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. International sanctions were imposed on Serbia starting in 1991 and the Republic became economically isolated. The economic disaster prompted the breakthrough for criminal organizations. Desperate for money, many former-soldiers and youths turned to a life of crime.

In 1992, members of the "Peca" gang were arrested in a massive police-operation. One of the gang's members was Dušan Spasojević, who later became the head of the Zemun clan. A young mobster from Belgrade's suburb Voždovac, Aleksandar Knežević "Knele", was murdered in October of that year, prompting a brief, but violent Gang War in Belgrade. He was the son of Belgrade gangster "Buca Al Kapone".

Željko Ražnatović Arkan was the founder and leader of the Serb Volunteer Guard (Arkan's Tigers), a Serb paramilitary unit that fought during the Yugoslav Wars. The unit's members were mostly newly-recruited Red Star Belgrade hooligans and gangsters from Serbia. Those who joined the unit profited on the battlefields by looting and stealing. Arkan later founded the Party of Serbian Unity in 1993. By the time that he returned from the battlefields of Croatia, he had become the most powerful member of the Serbian Mafia. He soon married Turbo-Folk singer Ceca, who was the most popular singer in Serbia.

Slobodan Milošević, the President of Serbia, protected the Mafia in exchange for political favours, thus being in direct connection with their activities. At the time, the Mafia profited by smuggling cigarettes, alcohol and oil. Businessman Stanko Subotić was the person that made the largest profit at this time, as cigarettes and oil were in such high demand because of the sanctions. Subotić's net worth is estimated to be €650 million. After Milošević's overthrow, Subotić maintained a connection with Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović, who granted him political favours just like Milošević had to other criminals previously.

From 1994-2000, illegal cigarette smuggling in Italy was operated by the Serbian Mafia in coordination with the Italian Mafia.

Serb and Montenegrin soldiers who had returned from the front-lines of the Yugoslav Wars found that the only way that they could make profits was by turning to lives of crime. The most common crimes were assassinations, kidnappings, drug and cigarette trafficking, robberies, money laundering, racketeering and illegal software production.

In 1998, 350 kilograms of heroin were seized at the Serbian-Bulgarian border.

On 15 January 2000, Arkan was assassinated in the lobby of the Continental Hotel in Belgrade. The killer, Dobrosav Gavrić, was a 23-year-old police mobile brigade's junior member. Gavrić had ties to the Serbian Mafia.

Slobodan Milošević was dethroned in the October 2000 Bulldozer Revolution. However, a bloody feud soon emerged amongst the different criminal "clans" of Belgrade. The feud grew into an open war in which many of the key Mafia bosses were assassinated.

In 2000, a total of €841,000,000 was determined to have been made in illegal profits in Serbia.

25th August 2000. The Ivan Stambolić former Serbian President just before the federal election in which it was mentioned that he could be included as a candidate for the President of the FRY, was abducted during recreation Kosutnjak in Belgrade, and since then he disappeared without a trace.28th March 2003. The remains of Ivan Stambolića were found in Fruska gora. He was killed on the same day it was hijacked by members of the Zemun clan. The funeral was 8 April. in Topceder the cemetery with all state honors at the insistence of the government of Serbia.

By the early 2000s, the Serbian Mafia had more money than the Serbian government and was better armed than the Serbian Army and Serbian police, according to Serbian Interior Minister Dušan Mihajlović. He said that Slobodan Milošević had given life to crime-syndicates as a "state-sanctioned mafia". Prostitutes from Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine were smuggled into Serbia. After Milošević lost power, the Mafia began seeking a new contact in the government. In September 2001, 700 kilograms of heroin was found in a bank vault rented by the BIA in central Belgrade. The illegal safekeeping was never explained, nor brought up. In exchage for information about Kosovo Albanian terrorists, the Zemun Gang was provided "special training courses" by the Serbian Special Forces.

In 2011,Dr. Gilly McKenzie, of the Interpol Organized Crime Unit, compiled a "White Book" containing 52 criminal organizations of Serbia, none of which had been terminated by the year's end. In the same year, it was concluded that the Protection rackets in the harbour cities of the Black Sea were run by Serbian, Russian and Ukrainian criminals.

During the period that started with the Yugoslav wars and ended with the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in March 2003, connections between the mafia and the government were obvious and corruption was rampant in most branches of the government, from border patrols to law-enforcement agencies. On 12 March 2003, Serbian Prime Minister Đinđić was assassinated by former Serbian Special Operations Unit (Red Berets, formerly Arkan's Tigers) Zvezdan Jovanović. Legija was involved in the assassination and he too was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Đinđić had connections within the Surčin Gang that dated back to the earlier overthrowing of Milošević. The government set in motion a major bust on criminality in - "Operation Sablja" (English: Operation Sabre), which led to more than 10,000 arrests. Many New Belgrade malls, locations frequented by gangsters, were closed after the Operation, 123 criminal groups were shattered with 844 members awaiting trial; 3,949 people had criminal complaints issued against them. 28 kilograms of heroin, 463 grams of Cocaine, 44,837 kilograms of Marijuana, 4,960 kilograms of synthetic drugs and 688 stolen cars were recovered in a single day. Milan Sarajlić, the Deputy State Prosecutor of Serbia was arrested that day and later confessed to being on the payroll of the Zemun clan.

In November 2003, 140 kilograms of marijuana were seized in Belgrade and 4 people were arrested. The Red Berets are dissolved on 23 March 2003.

In 2005, it was confirmed that Serbia lost 7,500,000 RSD daily because of economic crime, with the estimated total loss to criminal activity being estimated to be approximately €200,000,000 yearly.

In 2006, it was revealed that Dušan Spasojević, the gang leader of the Zemun Clan, was connected to Serbian Radical leader Vojislav Šešelj, whom he had given information about high-profile murders carried out in Serbia, written about in Šešelj's two books.

In January 2009, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić estimated that some 30 to 40 serious organized crime groups were operating in Serbia. The figures provided by Dačić did not include smaller criminal groups but more organized ones that were involved in drug and arms trafficking, human trafficking, murder and protection rackets.

In September 2009, 22 members of the Elez group were arrested by the Serbian police, dubbed the most dangerous gang in Western Balkans. The leader, Darko Elez, is captured with 5 other members in Serbia, 13 members are captured in Bosnia & Herzegovina, of which 3 were police officers

Police seized 2.8 tons (2,800 kg, worth 120 million €) of cocaine shipment from Uruguay on October 17, 2009, the BIA and American DEA made the joint operation. On October 31, 2009, Serbian police arrested over 500 people in the biggest anti-drug bust ever in Serbia. The Interior Ministry organized the Morava-operation that would focus on drug trafficking to young people in the primary and secondary schools, clubs and cafes and would encompass 2,000 police officers searching the whole country.

In November, 2009, Argentine Police arrested 5 Serbian drug couriers and seized their 492 kilograms of cocaine in Buenos Aires, One of the largest drug busts in 2009. The routs of the drugs were from Uruguay and Argentina via Central alt. South Africa to Northern Italy alt. Turkey to Montenegro. Also, Serbian organized crime experts estimated 10,000 foot soldiers part of 5 major organized crime groups operating in Serbia. A courier package of 5 kilos cocaine was intercepted from Paraguay, 4 Belgraders were arrested.

The busts were part of the Operation Balkan Warrior; an international drug smuggling case that involves mainly the Zemun clan, a name concluded as leader of the drug ring is Željko Vujanović.

In December, 2009, Ivica Dačić said "half of the Serbian sport clubs are led by people with links to organized crime". 21 kilos of heroin ($1,5-million) was found in a Belgrade flat rented by a Montenegrin national, the drugs were brought from Turkey.

In January, 2010, a 20-acre (81,000 m2) lot illegally owned by the Zemun clan was seized at Šilerova Street in Zemun, Belgrade, the clans headquarters. By January 21, The Balkan Warrior Operation included 19 suspects, 9 of whom are in custody, new arrests are Darko Šarić and Goran Soković who are colleagues of Željko Vujanović. Also, the same day, a 8-man crime group involved in stealing of oil over a two-year period from the NIS pipelines, the crude oil was sold through a company, worth several hundred thousands of euros, among the arrested is a member of the MUP.

On February 10, Serbia's top officials said serious daily death threats from the narco-mafia have been directed against President Boris Tadić, Deputy Prime minister and Interior minister Ivica Dačić, Special prosecutor for organized crime Miljko Radisavljević among other top government officials.

On February 18, a group of six robbers from Belgrade were arrested, they had since 2008 stolen more than 10 million RSD from banks, post offices, gas stations, exchange offices and stores. They were all in the ages 18–23.

On February 19, Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said that more than 50 suspects were arrested today in an ongoing operation aimed against financial crime and money laundering conducted in Valjevo, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Šabac, Sremska Mitrovica, Čačak and Sombor.

In March 2010, Stanko Subotić, aka Cane, head of the so-called "Tobacco Mafia" and on an international arrest warrant of Serbia, accused Nebojša Medojević, the Montenegrin party leader of Movement for Change of having organized a manhunt on him. Medojević had claimed that Cane and Darko Šarić had been hiding in a Montenegrin police villa in Žabljak, while Cane said in an interview that he was in Geneva, Switzerland. It is not quite clear why Zoran Đinđić the democratic leader invited his friend Stanko Subotić to invest in Serbia after the downfall of Milošević. If Stanko Subotić was really the head of the Tobacco Mafia, Zoran Đinđić would not have invited him.

In 11 March, a "well-known" entrepreneur was arrested with 1.2 kilograms of heroine meant for resale in Jagodina.

In 19 March, Boris Tadić vowed an all-out war on the Serbian mafia, in particular drug trafficking that is considered the biggest threat in society. Tadić has evidence that Serbian cartels have attempted to penetrate state institutions to destabilise the government. "The latest property seizures prove that those groups have laundered narco money by investing not only into their personal houses and land but also in tourism, factories and distribution of the press," Tadić said.

On 28 March 2010, 2 Bosniaks from Novi Pazar (Serbian citizens) were arrested at the Zagreb Airport with at least 1.7 kilograms of cocaine for the Serbian drug market. The pure cocaine came from Lima, Peru where they had spent the month traveling from Belgrade. The drugs were soaked in their clothes, estimated worth on the streets of Croatia was 70,000€.

In April 2010, it was concluded that Darko Šarić's gang had planned an operation against Serbian officials, including the president. Encrypted messages in local newspapers were deciphered by investigators and after long surveillance of the clan it was concluded that several hitmen were to kill Serbian officials of the MUP, BIA and state officials in a synchronized and highly well-coordinated way. The Šarić clan wants to liquidate people that are in their way, after the Balkan Warrior Operation that heavily decreased crime in Serbia and Montenegro.

On May 14, 2010, 3 Serbs who worked security for one of Bolivia's top drug lords were killed in a shootout with rival crime groups, the drug lord was kidnapped.

Interior Minister Ivica Dačić submitted the work report for 2009; the police had uncovered 7 OC groups and arrested 86 people. He said that by the end of 2009 there were 27 registered OC groups active, with each group having more than 200 members.

There is currently an ongoing investigation against Zemun clan members involved in assassinations who claim that Šešelj has ordered the assassination of Tomislav Nikolić.

In 2010 it was revealed that the Šarić gang had, in 2008 and 2009, ousted the 'Ndrangheta from the drug market. With the emergance of the gang on Italian soil, the gang offered better quality cocaine for a lower price, effectively gaining the market from 2007–2009, trafficking cocaine from South America. The Operation Balkan Warrior was successful in Italy, with over 80 people arrested. Two networks were among the arrested, one Italian, with members from Milan and other northern Italian towns, and the other, a Serbian network, with members from Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Serbian network has operatives all over Europe and South America.