25 arrested in Montenegro over 2.5 tonnes of Albanian skunk marijuana
Montenegrin police arrested 25 people in late February 2009 over a network belonging to seven crime clans that moved 2.5 tonnes of skunk marijuana from Albania through Montenegro to Serbia and Bosnia. Thirty-six defendants were later sentenced at the Higher Court in Podgorica to more than 220 years in prison in total.
Montenegrin police arrested 25 people suspected of smuggling marijuana from
Albania, police spokeswoman Tamara Popovic said.[1]A police officer and a
low-ranking government official were among those arrested, according to media
reports on 27 February 2009.[1]
Popovic said the suspects belonged to seven crime clans that moved 2.5 tonnes of
“extra-strong marijuana also known as skunk” from Albania via Montenegro to
Serbia and Bosnia.[1]Popovic said Albanian police had recently arrested
another six people in connection with the case in a joint action.[1]The
indictment said the groups moved the drug across Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.[2]
Prosecutors alleged that Leon Gojčaj organised a group in the Tuzi area that
bought and moved skunk from Albania into Montenegro.[2]In May 2011 a special
panel of judge Slavka Vukčević at the Higher Court in Podgorica sentenced 36
defendants to more than 220 years in prison in total over organised crime and
trafficking of about two and a half tonnes of “skunk” marijuana.[2]Two
defendants, Željko M. Nikolić and Goran M. Šuškavčević, were acquitted.[2]
In December 2008, before this bust, Montenegrin agencies had arrested 19 people
and seized some 550 kilograms of narcotics.[1]The mountainous
Montenegro-Albania border is frequently used for trafficking drugs, weapons and
people.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
25
Cannabis
2.5 t
Agency type
Police, Prosecutor
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis
Activity
Trafficking
Setting
Prison
Case stage
Sentenced
Sentence
Prison
Route
Albania → Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina via Montenegro
Vijestivijesti.meSROptuženi za šverc 2,5 tona marihuane osuđeni na 233 godine
Open questions the AI reported
The 2.5 tonnes is the quantity police said the network smuggled; no single seizure weight was published, so it is recorded as cannabis seized but is an investigative estimate of the trafficked load.
No separate date for the arrests was published; 26 February 2009 is the date the indictment says the group was uncovered, and the reports appeared on 27 February 2009.
The media reports named no suspect, and the court report lists many individuals without linking each to the original 25; only the trial totals are recorded here.
No plants, hectares, cash value or fine were reported, so none are recorded.
The December 2008 case of 19 arrests and about 550 kg of narcotics is a separate event and is not counted in this report's figures.
The 2011 court report's totals describe the trial's 36 defendants; it does not state that all 25 originally detained people were among them.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Vijesti: The prosecuting indictment dated the trafficking to 12 November 2008 through 26 February 2009, when the group was uncovered.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Vijesti: Gojčaj received 14 years, as did five Albanian nationals tried in absentia, three of them from Shkodra at 14 years and two at 10.
Police in Berane arrested 30-year-old AP from Podgorica after he failed to stop at a stop sign. Medical testing found he was driving under the influence of marijuana, and a misdemeanor report was filed with the Misdemeanor Court.
Police in Bijela, Herceg Novi, arrested a 30-year-old man after finding cocaine, marijuana and tablets allegedly meant for street sale. The senior prosecutor in Podgorica qualified the case as drug production, possession and trafficking and ordered his detention.
Podgorica drug police arrested 42-year-old Turkish citizen Erhan Tanjeri after finding about 1.83 kg of marijuana plus cocaine and 238 Lyrica tablets in his Zabjelo flat. He was detained for up to 72 hours after admitting to prosecutors that he held the drugs for resale.
Budva police arrested 23-year-old Ć.S. from Berane after finding about 650 grams of marijuana with cocaine, phones and cash in an apartment he used. He was held on suspicion of unauthorized drug production, possession and distribution and is to face prosecutors in Podgorica.
