Montenegro’s Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) and the Police Administration arrested three men from Danilovgrad in early March 2020 on suspicion of creating a criminal organisation and the unauthorised production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs.[1] The three arrested men are Saša Jokić (50), Branislav Bulajić (44) and Mladen Karadžić (49), all citizens of Danilovgrad.[1] Jokić, whom the SDT suspects of organising the group, was arrested by the Sector for the Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption and, after a hearing, was ordered detained for up to 30 days.[1]

The SDT suspects Jokić organised the criminal group, which it says was formed from the beginning of 2016 to April 2019 and also included Radovan Bulajić, Marko Rašović and other unidentified persons.[1] The SDT statement says the activity of the criminal organization was planned and carried out on an international scale.[1] The SDT alleges Jokić recruited members himself or through intermediaries, planned the smuggling, gave orders, and provided money and vehicles fitted with secret compartments and bunkers as well as secure locations for receiving, storing and loading marijuana onto trucks.[1]

Radovan Bulajić (42) and Marko Rašović (36) were not among those arrested because they were already in prison in Albania for a drug-smuggling offence and were unavailable to Montenegrin authorities.[1] The two were arrested in April 2019 in Shkodër, Albania, where local police suspected them of belonging to a criminal group that smuggled 151 kilograms of marijuana, and Kristijan Pali (26) of Shkodër was arrested in the same action.[1]