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EUROPOL, the biggest drug lords in the Balkans are arrested

2023-05-12 22:18:00, Aktualitet CNA

An international operation carried out by Serbia, the Netherlands and Belgium has resulted in the bust of the largest criminal drug trafficking organization in the Balkan region, the European Union's Law Enforcement Agency, EUROPOL, announced on Friday.

The announcement says that on May 11, "coordinated raids were carried out in Serbia and the Netherlands." Their goal was to capture the cartel leader and destroy the distribution infrastructure. Seven other members of this criminal organization were arrested in Belgium in 2021."

Last week, the Sunday magazine of the New York Times newspaper published a long article detailing crimes committed by the gang of Veljko Belivuk, head of the Partizan Belgrade football team's fan group. He and 29 members of the group were arrested in 2021 after EUROPOL managed to crack the Sky - ECC messaging app, a preferred means of communication for cocaine traffickers in Europe. All information about Veljko Belivuk's group was revealed there.

The author of the New York Times article, Robert F. Worth, told VOA that European agents are “still investigating the messages they have deciphered. So I think there are many more that have not been reported yet."

The EU law enforcement agency EUROPOL announced on Friday that in the latest operation, a total of 23 people have been arrested, including the 3 leaders of this criminal organization, described as high-value targets.

EUROPOL said the results of the raids were:

1.13 arrests were made in Serbia including 3 high value targets
2.35 house searches were carried out

The EUROPOL announcement also indicates that during the raids, "15 luxury cars and high-value jewelry as well as wristwatches worth about 2 million euros and almost 3 million euros in cash were confiscated.

EUROPOL says that "weapons and explosives, including 2 sniper rifles, 3 automatic rifles and other weapons" as well as explosive material have been confiscated.

The busted group is believed to be behind multi-ton shipments of cocaine headed for Europe from Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador, or transiting through West Africa.

"This gang was known in the underworld for its violence and involvement in high-level robberies. One of the targets arrested in Serbia was a former leader of the notorious Pink Panther criminal group."

The announcement of EUROPOL shows that after the decryption of the platform "Sky - ECC" "at least seven tons of cocaine seized in European ports in 2020 originated from this cartel".

"The criminals, arrested in Belgrade as part of this operation, were the largest cocaine traffickers in the Western Balkans, identified as part of the ongoing analysis of Sky ECC data."

Agjencia për zbatimin e ligjit të BE-së njofton se Europol-i krijoi Task Forcën Operacionale “Karteli Ballkanik” duke bashkuar vendet në të gjithë botën për të vënë në shënjestër në mënyrë efektive këtë kërcënim që buron nga ky rajon.

“Me mbi 50 që kanë përfaqësi të përhershme në Europol – përfshirë të gjitha vendet e Ballkanit, Europol-i është organizata përmes së cilës mund të zhvillohet një bashkëpunim i tillë. Duke shkëmbyer vazhdimisht informacione të mbledhura nga inteligjenca dhe me një koordinim të duhur ne mund të shkatërrojmë rrjetet kriminale, të çmontojmë operacionet e tyre dhe t'i bëjmë komunitetet tona më të sigurta”, citohet në njoftim Zëvendës Drejtori Ekzekutiv i Europol-it, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe.

“Dy anëtarë të personelit të Europolit u vendosën në Beograd për të mbështetur autoritetet serbe me masat e tyre hetimore gjatë këtij aksioni.”

EUROPOL-i si agjenci e Bashkimit Evropian ka 27 vende anëtare ndërsa marrëveshjet e bashkëpunimit i ka të ndara në tri pjesë: Marrëveshjet Strategjike, Marrëveshjet Operacionale ku përfshihen marrëveshjet e nënshkruara edhe me Serbinë dhe Shqipërinë si dhe Marrëveshjet e Punës. Kosova ka nënshkruar marrëveshje pune me EUROPOL-in në korrikun e vitit 2020.

The article published on May 7 by the New York Times magazine showed how the leader of the criminal group captured in Serbia in 2021, Veljko Belivuk, had stated that he served the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, to strengthen his power, while the Serbian authorities had been forced to capture him after the data uncovered by EUROPOL had left Serbian authorities with no way out.

The Serbian president has rejected the accusations, saying recently that "the nonsense text in the New York Times was ordered five months ago and people here (in Serbia) drafted it"./VOA