Montenegrin mafia
| Territory | The Balkans; Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Montenegrins, Montenegrin Bosniaks |
| Criminal activities | Arms trafficking, assault, drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, human trafficking, murder, prostitution, theft. |
The Montenegrin mafia (Crnogorska mafija) refers to the various criminal organizations based in Montenegro or composed of Montenegrins. There are 700 documented organized criminals operating within Montenegro; outside of the country Montenegrin gangs are active throughout Europe-notably Serbia and Slovenia. The gangs tend to specialize in cigarette smuggling, narcotics and arms trafficking.
The Montenegrin police have just recently begun documenting and taking action against the many criminal gangs within Montenegro, discovering a vast network of powerful cartels and groups that play a central role in organized crime within the Balkans.
In Podgorica there are four prominent gangs, each loosely working with one another.
Maljota, Toma Marko Đurašević and Zoran Bukilic were leaders of a group whose "specialty" is drug smuggling from Albania. They additionally smuggle weapons and export stolen luxury cars into Albania. They are associated with the other prominent gangs in Podgorica, also doing business with the Nikšić Mob, Serbian and Albanian mafia.
Leon and Viktor Drešaj run a drug cartel based in Podgorica, dealing with major heroin trafficking from Albania into Montenegro. They work closely with the Đurašević Brothers and together control the transit of illicit drugs across the Montenegrin border into the rest of the Balkan states.
In 2006 during operation Poskok the ica narkomanF were arrested along with Maljota Đurašević and several other gangsters for possession and intent to sell illegal narcotics.
One of the most powerful men in Podgorica is Mehmed "Bela" Đoković, an alleged boss of a criminal organization from Podgorica. His organization has been known to deal with human trafficking (primarily Albanians and Kosovars being illegally smuggled into Western Europe and America). The police believe "Bela" to be involved in the Đurašević-Drešaj drug trafficking operation as well.
The organization are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, protection rackets and illegal gambling. The group are organized in the horizontal manner and higher-ranked members are not necessarily coordinated by any leader. The organization has a local reputation to have connections with corrupt high-ranking men in Herceg Novi Regional Police Unit.
...
Wikipedia