Acting on an international warrant, police in Bosnia and Herzegovina arrested a man wanted in Slovenia for trafficking drugs throughout Europe.[1] Slovenian authorities described him as dangerous.[1] Media identified the man as 33-year-old Mladen Samardžija, a Slovenian citizen who used dual Bosnian citizenship to avoid courts in Slovenia.[1] Police said he is suspected of unauthorized production and trafficking of narcotics, organized crime, money laundering and obstruction of justice.[1] He was arrested on Monday on Mount Jahorina near Sarajevo.[2] Republika Srpska police said he was apprehended in the police operation codenamed Tokio aimed at arresting a member of an organized crime group dealing in drug trade.[2]

During the operation, police seized one kilogram of cocaine and a small quantity of marijuana, along with cash, four pistols, ammunition, a laptop, phones and several vehicles.[1] Officers of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry’s organized-crime directorate, under the supervision of the Bosnian Prosecutor’s Office, searched locations used by Samardžija in East Sarajevo during the Tokio operation.[3] In those searches, police listed 12 grams of hashish among the items temporarily seized, alongside money, phones, pistols, ammunition, notebooks, watches and bank cards.[3] Police also seized five cars, described as a Golf 7, Polo, Audi RS3, Ford Focus and Škoda Octavia.[3] Investigators said he was involved in the transportation and sale of over 40 kilograms of cocaine and half a kilo of heroin.[1]

After Samardzija fled Slovenia, he continued to run an organized criminal group operating in the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.[2] The police operation was the result of an investigation carried out under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2] The operation was carried out with Europol support.[2] The suspect was to be handed over to the State Prosecutor’s Office for further processing.[2] Regional media speculated about his clan ties, reporting in Bosnia and Herzegovina that he was a close friend of Jovan Vukotić, the head of the Škaljari clan.[1] Some Montenegrin media linked him instead to the rival Kavač clan, and both clans originate from Kotor and split over a cocaine deal that went bad in 2014 after partnering in smuggling from South America into Europe.[1]