New killings in clan warfare in Montenegro

2025-07-22 18:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Within three days, from July 16 to 19, two murders occurred in Montenegro - one on the street, the other in a cafe - as well as a physical attack on the mayor of Budva, who was beaten in a bar on the city's Slovenska beach.

The perpetrators of the murders, suspected to be linked to clashes between criminal clans, are still being sought.

A bystander was slightly injured, while the friend of one of the victims was more seriously injured.

Due to, as he said, the escalation of street violence and clashes between criminal clans that are causing concern and fear among citizens, the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovi?, called an emergency meeting of the Defense and Security Council on July 20.

On the same day, the Montenegrin Police also reacted.

He said that he understands the citizens' concerns and announced that 11 organized criminal groups operate in Montenegro, of which the two largest have over 300 members.

The two largest criminal groups in Montenegro are the Kavaç clan and the Shkalari clan.

In the conflicts between them, which have begun since 2014 for control of the narcotics market, over 50 people have been killed.

Police believe that the murder of a Montenegrin citizen in Spain on July 15th was the initial cause for the two recent murders in Podgorica.

Shchepanovic said that operational data indicates that all three murders may be linked to clashes between criminal clans, which have a long history of conflict.

Who is more powerful: the state or criminal groups?

The President of the International Police Organization in Montenegro, Ivan Pekic, says that the transnational war between the Shkalari and Kavaci clans has reignited.

He adds that the escalation of violence continued with the beating of the mayor of Budva, Nikola Jovanovi?.

He says someone should be held accountable for security failures.

"The Police Directorate either lacks the power, lacks the will, or is under so much political pressure that it does not dare to confront the people from organized criminal groups who threaten Jovanovic," says Pekic.

He says he is concerned about the answer to the question: are organized criminal groups and the people currently in leadership structures more powerful than the state?

"I definitely want to believe in the impartial work of the police. The situation is becoming more complicated. We need to change the strategy and react concretely to these criminal groups," says Pekic.

He adds that the Director of Police has stated that there are 11 criminal groups in Montenegro and recalls that in 2022, 10 such groups were identified.

"What has happened during these three years? Two criminal clans have disappeared, while three new ones have been born. Therefore, the leaders' claim that they have won the battle against organized crime is not true - according to the documents themselves," Peki? concludes.

Murder in Barcelona

Fillip Kne?evi?, 36, a citizen of Montenegro, was killed with several bullets in the back on July 15, at the entrance to a building in the Eixample district, in central Barcelona.

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report, he was one of the main paid executioners of the Kavaç clan.

He was wanted by Interpol for the murder of two members of the Shkalari clan, Allan Kozhar and Damir Hadzic, in 2020 in Corfu.

Kne?evi? had false documents from Eastern Europe, but was identified through fingerprints and international police cooperation.

Murder in Stara Varoš
Igor Nedovi?, 29, was killed on July 16 at around 1:30 p.m., near his family home in Stara Varoš - a historic part of the center of Podgorica.

The killer fired bullets while Nedovic was standing in the street with a friend of his.

He was taken to the Montenegro Clinical Center, where he died a short time later.

Police said the main suspect in the murder is Arijan Reckovic, 23, from Podgorica.

He is on the run and is being sought by authorities.

Nedovic was also the target of an attack in May of this year, when he was shot at in a bar in Podgorica.

According to police sources, he had connections to the Kavaç clan.

Murder in "Taormina"
On the evening of July 19, Ivan Milacic, 32, was murdered in the garden of the "Taormina" cafe in Podgorica.

The masked attacker shot him several times at close range.

His friend, Strahinja Raonic, and a bystander, who received minor injuries, were also injured in the shooting.

Police said that there were persons of interest to security at the table.

According to operational data, Milacic was close to the Shkalari clan.

How do the police view the problem of murders and beatings?

"What we can connect is that both cases occurred after the serious murder in Barcelona. We cannot say now that it is the direct cause, but that there is an international connection - there is," said Shkepanovic.

He said that some of the criminal activities, including executions, are the result of conflicts coming from outside - from the region and from criminal networks in Europe.