Bulgaria/The Balkans

[Hollander]

Sofia Court Postpones Bulgarian Mobster Murder Case


Crime: 13 April 2006, Thursday.

Sofia City Court postponed for June the case for the murder of alleged mobster Milcho Bonev, dubbed Baj Mile killed in 2004.

Bonev, one of the founders of Bulgaria's obsolete ex-grouping SIC, and his bodyguards were executed July 30, 2004 in broad daylight in Slavia restaurant-garden in Sofia district Ovcha Kupel.

The court ruled that some of witnesses in the case have been wrongfully asked to testify, as they are relatives of the killed people. The case was closed for journalists as secret information was used in the investigation.

Tihomir Dochev, Stilian Georgiev, Georgi Stefanov and Anatolii Munkov, aka the Rat were arrested on charges of involvement in the gang-style shooting of Bonev and five of his bodyguards. They are also charged with life attempts of Alexander Ananiev and Emil Stoilov.

Baj Mile was believed to be an important link in the drug trafficking and distributing network on the Balkans, investigated by Bulgarian and Serbian special services.

This post has been edited by Hollander on Apr 12 2008, 06:16 AM

[Hollander]

Karate Bob moet Nederland uit......

http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/3772896...vertrekken.html

[Hollander]

Bulgaria Busts Contract Murderers' Weapons Suppliers


Crime: 16 April 2006, Sunday.

Bulgaria's police nabbed a great amount of arms including 6 rifles, 6 guns and nearly 900 bullets.

Special devises for greater preciseness for day and night shooting as well as telescopic sights and noise-killers have been also seized, police announced.

The special police operation took place near Dimitrovgrad, southern Bulgaria. Two men - N.K., 56, and D.D., 57 - were detained. A check later proved that they were heavily armed. One of them had an illegally possessed revolver Smith&Wesson and the other person owned a Makarov gun.

During the check police officers found 3 rifles, 3 guns and nearly 300 bullets in the trunk of the microbus the men drove. Most of the arms were equipped with telescopic sights and noise-killer. More weapons and large amount of money were later found in the homes of the two arrestants.

The two men were in very poor health condition and therefore they were later released. Still, charges of illegal arms possession will be brought against them.

Police spent nearly one month investigating that case. It was discovered that the two men received orders and delivered arms for different clients in Bulgaria.

The analysis of the weapons proved that they were meant to be used for special purposes, police pointed out. It was also explained that most of the rifles were processed in a way to ease the shooter and provide him with greater preciseness. The bullets were also processed. Such guns have been used for the latest gang-like murders in Bulgaria, police revealed.

[Hollander]

Sofia Court Leaves Underworld Boss Behind Bars

Crime: 20 April 2006, Thursday.

Sofia City Court ruled that Nikolay Marinov, known as the Little Marguin, and Ivo Georgiev should remain behind bars.

The court decided that although there are no fears that the two detainees might hide from the authorities there is still a threat that they might commit the crime they were arrested for.

The two Marguins, brothers Ivo and Svetlin Karageorgievi and Vesselin Toshev are charged with plotting three murders and arms possession. Former Foreign Minister General Lyubomir Gotsev, Todorov- Doktora, killed in Sofia in February, and the businessman Nikola Damyanov are said to have been the targets of the murders masterminded by the two notorious brothers.

[moribundo]

Hollander it seems like you are following the developments at Balkan very closely. I have a few questions. Do you know what happend with the criminal croatian Warlords like Tuta. Do you know if the Zemun clan is still existing? What do you know about the situation of albanian OC, is it still that uncontroled and dominant like after the conflict?
what do you know about the situation and business of the Hasani clan? i hope that´s not to much. Thank you moribundo

[Hollander]

Hi moribundo, i'm working on it, i will give you some answers later...i think puparo has a lot of information regarding the Balkans....

Greetings



Croatia - Turmoil in Zagreb Underworld

ZAGREB, 20.4.2006. (Beta)

by Sandra Caric

Although a month has passed since the murder of Lulzim Krasniqi in Zagreb, the perpetrators have not yet been arrested. Meanwhile, friends of the killed Kosovo Albanian, who has been brought in connection with a number of criminal activities, threatened to find those who ordered and committed the murder. It is feared in public that this could be an announcement of bloody showdowns in the streets of Croatia`s capital.

Lulzim Krasniqi, killed on March 22, in front of the building in Novi Zagreb where he lived, was believed to be the chief of the Kosovo Albanian mafia in Croatia. He was gunned down in a classic ambush from an automatic weapon.

The attacker used a Croatian made "ero" automatic handgun, which is frequently being used in mafia showdowns in Croatia. In spite of having been wounded by at least five bullets, Krasniqi managed to describe the killer to the police before he died. However, the perpetrators have not yet been found. This is why the Zagreb public believes the Krasniqi murder would be just another of some 20 unsolved murders that have taken place in Croatia since the 1990s.

As many as 29 criminal charges were pressed against Krasniqi while he was alive, mainly for fraud, blackmail, threats and violent behavior. On several occasions, the media have brought him in connection with drug dealing and smuggling of weapons and cigarettes.

He had stood two trials, for fraud and attempted blackmail, but was acquitted of both. He was also a witness in the process against the so-called "Zagreb crime organization," at which he testified about the murder of his friends Ivan Sakota and Spejtim Thaqi, at the beginning of the 1990s.

At a gathering to send Krasniqi`s body off from Zagreb to Kosovo, where he was buried, apart from numerous Albanians from Croatia, there were many persons whom the media have claimed to be members of mafia clans in the city. One of them was Nikica Jelavic, one of the most important underworld bosses in Zagreb according to the media. He was one of the six accused in the 2001 process against the "Zagreb crime organization," for organizing drug smuggling, extortion, ordering killings and a number of other crimes.

Also present at the gathering was Trpimir Jandrek, who has been brought in connection with Hrvoje Petrac, one of the most important persons in Croatia`s underworld, arrested last year for helping the Hague indictee Ante Gotovina.

According to information the media obtained from investigators, the persons which the police have questioned in connection with the Krasniqi murder mentioned two groups of potential perpetrators. Some of them claimed the murderers were from a rival clan in Zagreb, while others said Krasniqi had offended a clan in Serbia-Montenegro.

Croatian Interior Minister Ivica Kirin said at the end of March, after the killing of Krasniqi, that mafia killings were "the product of good police work," which have lately broken several smuggling chains and seized large quantities of narcotics and weapons. He explained that, because of successful police operations, i.e. seizures of contraband, great debts have been created in the underworld that are now being settled through killing.

Kirin`s statement confirmed speculation of certain media that Krasniqi`s killing was revenge of the Albanian mafia, because of poor security of several shipments of drugs and cigarettes, which have been seized by the police in a short period.

A media representative of the Zagreb police, Aleksandra Ljuba, in an interview to Kriminal NET did not wish to elaborate on which businesses Krasniqi had dealt with, reiterating that he has been charged with blackmail, fraud and violent behavior several dozen times, but not for murder and belonging to the mafia. Asked whether the police expected the killing in the underworld to continue, Ljuba replied that this was difficult to predict and added that she was not at liberty to comment while the investigation is in progress.

She added that she was unable to comment on claims of Krasniqi`s friends that they would find the killer on their own, but warned that taking the law in one`s own hands was a crime.

The chief of Zagreb police, Marijan Tomurad, stated in mid April that Krasniqi was questioned by the police some 20 days before his killing, for alleged involvement in the beating of the head of management of the Karlovac factory for producing gas turbines, Kresimir Landeka.

Tomurad added that Landeka claimed that Krasniqi, with two unknown persons, beat him up on March 3 in front of a cafe bar in the Panorama hotel in Zagreb. But, Tomurad added that it has not been proven that Krasniqi was the attacker and that he had refused to cooperate with the police. Allegedly, Krasniqi has been involved in smuggling drugs and cigarettes from Kosovo, via Croatia, into the European Union, primarily Italy and Spain. After his killing, the Austrian media claimed Krasniqi has had tight connections with the Albanian drug clan in Graz and in the whole of Styria.

According to the Austrian media, which quoted sources in the country`s crime police, Lulzim Krasniqi had many relatives in Graz, who belong to the Albanian organization which has between 30 and 40 members. The clan is believed to be organizing illegal labor, tax fraud and human and drug trafficking, but this has never been proven in court.

(BETA)

[moribundo]

i have one correction for my questions: What do you know about the situation of albanian OC IN MACEDONIA (Tetovo area) is it still that uncontroled and dominant like after the conflict?= correct Version

[Hollander]

Hot on the trail of Mladic | 11:55 April 21 | B92

BELGRADE -- Mladic has been located in Macedonia, near the Greek border, according to daily Glas Javnosti.

The daily writes that according to Banja Luka daily Fokus, Mladic was located in Macedonia two weeks ago, in a vacationing community on the coast of the Dojranska Lake, near the border with Greece. Fokus’ sources say that Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has serious intentions of arresting Mladic and extraditing him to The Hague, but is trying in every way possible to make sure that the arrest does not take place on the territory of Serbia.

Fokus claims that this is because Kostunica would like to keep the Government in tact, and the Socialist Party of Serbia is threatening to collapse it if Mladic is arrested.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski denied the claims that Mladic is in Macedonia, according to Glas Javnosti.

Serbian Radical Party official Milorad Mrcic said that Mladic’s eventual arrest would show how little Kostunica takes into consideration the feelings of Serbia’s citizens and that arresting Mladic would be yet another betrayal of the Serbian people.

Liberal-Democratic Party President Cedomir Jovanovic that every day is a good day for Mladic to be arrested.

The International Crisis Group’s Balkans expert, James Lion, said that the media creates unnecessary hype before every deadline for the arrest of Mladic and that the international community will believe that Mladic is arrested only when they see him in The Hague. He said that Mladic will not be arrested because the Serbian Government is using the situation as a trump card for the Kosovo question.

[puparo]

SRETEN JOSIC PLEADED NOT GUILTY
/06-04-2006/
(FOCUS News Agency )
Serbia and Montenegro

Belgrade. Balkan King of Cocaine Sreten Josic a.k.a. Joca the Amsterdam pleaded not guilty of accusations against him before Belgrade Regional Court, Serbian newspaper Glas Javnosti reads today.
Josic is accused of instigating murder of Goran Marjanovic, a.k.a. Goksi Bombas. His lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic was present during the questioning.
The court session passed behind closed doors and there is no information about it yet.

[puparo]

Balkan preview:


Bulgaria SIC founders
SIC is a former insurance company, known as a strong-arm grouping. The company was stripped of its licence in 1999 as part of the government's combat against organised crime. Dmitrii Minev “Dimata Rusnaka” (killed in october 2004) is believed to be one of SIC founders together with crimebosses Krassimir Marinov “Marguin”, Mladen Mihalev “Madzho”, Ventsislav Stefanov and Milcho Bonev (killed in july 2004).


Bulgaria capital Sofia, Krassimir Marinov "Marguin"
Krassimir Marinov "Marguin" have been linked to the obsolete ex grouping SIC and is connected with Bul Ins insurance company. Vassil Bozhkov, Chief of Business club Vazrazhdane and President of Nove Holding is among the owners of the company. The capital of Bul Ins is shared out among 20 companies which each hold a 5% stake, six of the companies are registered in Cyprus, four in Luxembourg and the others in Bulgaria.


Ivan Todorov “Doktora”
A five-year imprisonment sentence has already been imposed on Todorov on charges of kidnapping a businessman back in 1994.


Sofia (Bulgaria), Ambassador hotel
On 17 March 2000 Branislav Lainovic “Dugi” registers in the hotel and meets with Poli Pantev the same night. On the next morning he leaves to Belgrade.


Belgrade Serbia Hotel murdercase Branislav Lainovic “Dugi”
20 March 2000 Miladin Suvaidjich calls on the phone Branislav Lainovic “Dugi” and settles a meeting in front of "Serbia" hotel, the cops’ reports show. Miladin does not come and unknown killers shot death Branislav Lainovich.
20 March 2000 Branislav Lainovic “Dugi” is shot dead with two bullets in front of "Serbia" hotel in Belgrade. After his death Dusan Spasojevic ”Siptar” and Liubisha Buha “Chume” stand at the head of the Zemun clan. Dusan Spasojevic “Siptar” deals with the narco-traffic through Bulgaria towards Belgrade. Branislav "Dugi" Lainovic was a Novi Sad businessman and former commander of the para militairy Serb Guard. He was seen as the boss of Novi Sad. He was close with the killed Arkan. Suvaidjich and Zemun clan play a key role in his death. Miladin shows prosperity buying property after property in Voivodina.


Sofia (Bulgaria), Ambassador hotel bomb
15 november 2000 two Armenians (under whom Terry Artashes) detonated themselves while preparing a bomb for an attack on Poli Pantev the Ministry of Internal Affair claims.


Bulgaria’s drugboss Poly Pantev
Bulgarian Poly Pantev a collaborator with a Puerto Rican drug cartel. The drug barons had entrusted him with shipping 600 kilos of cocaine to Russia via Bourgas, but the shipment never arrived. They called him in to explain, and Pantev went along to the meeting in the Sonesta Hotel in Oranjestad capital city (Aruba) with a 19-year-old model in the hope of finding a solution.


Aruba capital Orangecity, Sonesta Hotel, murdercase Poly Pantev
9 March 2001 was in the lobby of the Sonesta Hotel in Oranjestad capital city (Aruba) Poly Pantev (39) shot and killed, he had been Bulgaria's most important drugdealer. After his death part of his business is taken over by Kiril Kiril Tzvetkov, he had once been close to Pantev.


Jocic
It is suspected that Jocic ordered the murder of two Bulgarian mafiosi: Poly Pantev (2001) and Milcho Bonev (2004), both of whom dealt in drugs.


Sofia (Bulgaria) murdercase Ivan Stoyanov
12 November 2001 in Sofia Ivan Stoyanov (44) "kubeto" (Dome) was shot in the head in his car and died, he was close to the already killed Poly Pantev.


Bulgaria
Lawyer Ilian Vasilev defended Poly Pantev, policeman Kalin Kyosev, Kiro "the Jap" (Kiril Kirilov "the jap") and Valter Papazki.


Bulgaria capital Sofia, Sreten "Joca" Jocic arrest
20 June 2002 was Sreten "Joca" Jocic (39), the boss of the socalled Belgrado group of yugos in Amsterdam, in the Bulgarian capital Sofia arrested at the request of the Netherlands for the murders of the drugdealers Jan Femer and Sam Klepper, but in the dutch request are 23 murders mentioned. Jocic was also a suspect in the murder of 3 policemen in Austria. He was sought in Germany, Belgium, Greece, Thailand, Canada and South Africa. The police suspect that Jocic had plans to send in more killers to Amsterdam to avenge the murder of his protege the egyptian druglord Barsoum, according to police possible targets were Heineken kidnapper Willem Holleeder and the amsterdam buildingtycoon Willem Endstra. Jocic was then replaced in Sofia by Zemun clan member Nenad Milenkovic and according to the serb police was his partner Konstantin Dimitrov. According to information from Belgrade Zemun boss Milorad Lukovic “Legija” had tipped him off. Directly after his arrest Sreten Jocic “Joca” gave a message through his friends to his traitor Legija : “First i will kill your children, then i will kill the rest of your family, then i will kill you so slowly that you can watch your own funeral”. When Jocic was arrested in his appartment in Sofia police found a since 2 years unregular legitimation of the state secret service of Serbia.


Anton Miltenov “Klyuna” (the beak)
Sofia City Prosecutor's Office brought a lawsuit against Anton Miltenov aka Klyuna (the beak), on charges of masterminding the assault against drugsmuggler Iliyan Varsanov in august 2002 in Sofia. At the beginning of december 2003 Varsanov survived a second attempt on his life.

Sofia murdercase Dimitar Djamov
Dimitar Djamov, a 42-year-old former SIC insurance company owner, who was arrested in 1997 for questioning over a number of armed robberies, was shot in the stomach in central Sofia 16 august 2002.


Sofia
16 August 2002 the 27-year-old alleged drug trafficker Ilian Versanov was shot in the legs as he entered a bar.


Bulgaria
The battle broke out when between August 14 and 16 august 2002, former commando Alexei Petrov, former SIC insurer Dimitar Dzhamov and drug dealer Ilian Versanov were shot. There was reason to take into custody some of the victims in the shootings, who had been hospitalised. Among prime suspects were former members of anti-terrorism special troops, 10 of whom have already been held in custody. Wanted also are former commandoes Dimitar Dimitrov and Ognian Mitkov.


Bulgaria arrest macadonian Eran Neziri
23 january 2003 bulgarian border police arrested a runaway Macedonian convict wanted by Interpol. Police seized Eran Neziri, 31 from the city of Gostivar as he was trying to sneak from Bulgaria into Macedonia across the frontier line near the checkpoint of Gyueshevo, 113 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Sofia. Neziri has escaped from Bulgarian custody last Jan. 18 after being arrested for theft in Sofia, police said. He had earlier served a five-year
prison term in Bulgaria after being convicted for drug traffic. Interpol has been looking for him on a request by Macedonia where he has to serve other prison terms, police said.


Sofia murdercase Rumen Yanevski
Dusan Spasojevic “Siptar” and Zemun clan had worked with one of the most powerful Bulgarian narco-trafficants – the deceased Rumen Yanevski. In the last years of his life he traveled across Venezuela, Spain, Bulgaria and Serbia. On January 23, 2003 Yanevski had a planned meeting with Zemun clan representative in Sofia. Unknown assassin shot him death in his jeep and he could not attend. Rumen Yanevski was very close to the Serbian Nenad Milenkovic.


Sofia, Metodi Metodiev
5 February 2003 another shooting shattered Sofia's peace. The victim was Metodi Metodiev, also known as Meto Ilianskia, the right-hand man of head of VAI Holding, Georgi Iliev. Metodiev, who has a criminal record and has been convicted, was shot in the right hand as he was leaving the Captain Cook fish restaurant on Pencho Slaveikov Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon. Metodiev later testified that he had seen the neither the attacker, nor the car.


Sofia murdercase Todor Matov
6 February 2003 was former wrestling referee Todor Matov, 60, shot and killed. Matov was ambushed and killed on his way home after a meeting of the Wrestling Federation at the National Sport Academy (NSA) in Sofia's Student Town district. Investigators are working on the version that Matov was murdered by mistake. According to the police, the most probable target was Dimitar Djamov, a businessman who survived an attempted assassination last August. Witnesses said that another referee, Yancho Kostadinov, offered to give Matov a ride home in his black Mercedes S class after the end of the meeting. Police presume that the assassin shot at Kostadinov's car, mistaking it for Djamov's. Witnesses testified that Djamov was also in the NSA but left earlier via a different route in a very similar car. The assassin was positioned on a small hill overlooking Djamov's usual route from the NSA, and opened fire at the car with a 7.62 automatic rifle. The police found the gun and 13 spent cartridges on the hill. The hailstorm of bullets killed Matov instantly and wounded Kostadniov in the thigh. The latter was taken to the Pirogov emergency hospital in a critical condition. "I heard the screeching of brakes and at the next moment some guy started shooting from the nearby hill," a witness told daily newspaper Trud. Interior Ministry chief secretary General Boiko Borissov confirmed that the most likely reason was a mistake but did not exclude the possibility of Kostadinov being the target. He also said that he would request from Chief of Staff of the Army General Nikola Kolev a report on missing machine guns and grenade launchers. Several days later the Interior Ministry informed the public that there were two suspects for Matov's murder and the police were launching a large-scale operation against criminal groups. Borissov commented that this shooting would not be the last as the turf war between drug dealers continues.


Bulgaria
7 february 2003 acting district prosecutor of Varna Georgi Manasiev was stabbed in the right thigh by an unidentified assailant in front of his home. Manasiev said he did not see the face of the assailant, who was wearing a jacket with a hood. According to the Interior Ministry, Manasiev had not received any threats.


Sofia murdercase MG Corporation president Iliya Pavlov
18 March 2003 was MG Corporation founder and president Iliya Pavlov (43) shot and killed in front of the corporation's headquarters in Sofia. He was Bulgaria's wealthiest businessman who transformed his former notorious Multigroup corporation (set up in the beginning of the democratic changes in Bulgaria) into MG Corporation to change its shady "grouping" image. Iliya Pavlov was ranked eight with 1,5 billion dollars among 25 billionaires in Central and eastern Europe by the polish magazine Vprost in november 2002. The day before had Iliya Pavlov testified in the trial against 5 men who were suspected in the murder of former prime minister Andrei Lukanov in 1996.


Iliya Pavlov, was shot dead March 2003. Minister of Interior declined to comment if there was a link between Pavlov's death, the shooting in Varna at the car of his partner Sevdalin Stratiev a few hours later, and the murder of the Moldavan citizen Stepan Rubakov. Rubakov was shot dead with Kalashnikov gun near hotel Ambassador in Sofia suburbs a day after the murder of Iliya Pavlov.18 March 2003


About three hours after Pavlov was killed, an unidentified person fired a combat pistol into a Mercedes car of the BIRS company. The company owner, Sevdalin Stratiev, is known to have been a business partner to Pavlov. He is a leading construction entrepreneur in Varna.


Bulgaria capital Sofia, curd Fatik (later changed his name to Philip Pavlov Naydenov)
Rumours have it that the business activity of Fatik was linked to MG corporation, whose founder iliya Pavlov was killed.


Vassil Bozhkov
Vassil Bozhkov, Chief of Business club Vazrazhdane and President of Nove Holding is among the owners of the company Bul Ins insurance. Following the murder of Bulgaria's MG Corporation President Iliya Pavlov Business club Vazrahdane chief Vassil Bozhkov called on the state to take measures for ensuring the security of the big businessmen.


Ivan Todorov “Doktora”
18 April 2003 Ivan Todorov “Doktora” survived an attempt on his life when his car was bombed on a packed Sofia thoroughfare, his chauffeur died. Following the blast the country's Interior Ministry compiled a major report on organized crime. It brought about a political storm as some officials announced it included pictures of Finance Minister Milen Velchev and Miroslav Sevlievksi, recently appointed Energy Minister, together with Todorov on a yacht in Monaco.


Konstantin Dimitrov “Samokovetsa”
31 May 2003 Konstantin Dimitrov “Samokovetsa” survived a life attempt.


Bulgaria
In june 2003 there was an attack at the boss Kiril Kirilov "the jap" who survives.


Sofia, Voivodinski clan from Serbia or Croatia??
Robert Shkaritza and Nenad Milenkovich remain the key representatives of Voivodinski clan in Sofia. They make it up with the enemies from Zemun clan and start to do business together. They also become partners with Surchinki clan and the Arab group leaded by a scandal boss, killed recently. He was a doyen in the business with amphetamines. After "Sabre" operation Sharitza and Milenkovish make an attempt to take some place remained uncovered in the heroin market in Belgrade. After "Sabre" operation gangsters from Zemun clan have forced Milenkovich and Shkaritza about money, the cops say. Most probably they’ve ask him also for a shelter.


Sofia murdercase Robert Shkaritza
On July, 3, 2003 around midnight in front of his house in Sofia Robert Shkaritza, a Croatian citizen is shot and killed. After his death media published couple of articles claiming his connectivity with the Zemun clan, the organizers of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjich’s assassination. Shkaritza possesses only one Bulgarian firm – "Milione" Ltd., founded in 1998. His associate is the Italian citizen Nikola Piedigrotta. Their company has registered at Lozenetz Sofia neighborhood, bl. 14-18 at "Lozenska planina" Str. According to the juridical registration of "Milione" Ltd. the corresponding telephone number of the company is 981 48 58. In fact this is the telephone number of Kotzev’s office, showed "24 hours" daily verification in Ciela information system. In Kotzev’s office nobody haven’t heard about "Milione" Ltd., newspaper reporter found out. To our question if it possible only Mr. Kotzev to have been aware of the affairs of the company owned by the Croatian, the answer was "There is no way to know this." To the same telephone number other companies are responding also, in some of them there is also participation of Serbian citizens.
Lyubomir Kotzev had also been consulting the Croatian citizen Shkaritza, claimed to be close to the Zemun clan

Sofia (capital of Bulgaria)
10 July 2003 was in Bulgaria the serb Nenad Milenkovic arrested he was suspected of being a member of the Zemunclan and was a suspect in the murder in march of the serb president Zoran Djindjic. Serbia wants him for a 2 year prison sentence he was handed in 1998 for illegal drugs possession. His lawyer in bulgaria is Lilko Yotsov. Zemunclan leader Milorad Lukovic is still sought. Nenad Milenkovich is suspected to be the man who ordered Shcaritza’s murder as well as the murders of around 20 people in Serbia, connected with the drug traffic. When he was detained "24 hours" daily announced that Bulgarian special services have the inside track that the Serbian stands behind three homicides in Sofia, ordered because of drug debts in the first six moths of the year. The case in point is the shootings down of Rumen Yanevski, Tihomor Trifonov and Robert Shcaritza.


In july 2003 the body of Alexander Alexandrov a 37-year-old trader of aluminium window panes from Sofia, was found in his car. The car was submerged in the Danube river. An initial inspection by local police showed that Alexandrov was killed with five bullets in the upper body. Police arrested two men in the town of Dolna Mitropolia several hours later. They are suspected of being involved in the murder.


Todor Shirokov, 31, was killed in july 2003 in front of a discotheque in Pomorie. Local police later detained Alexander Nikolov, 43, from Sofia. He was caught running on the beach near the crime scene holding a Makarov pistol with its factory numbers filed off. Police suspect Nikolov of murdering Shirokov. General Vassil Vassilev, head of the Directorate of the National Police, who later arrived at the scene, said: "The case is closed. The unpleasant thing is that a man was killed." According to police, Shirokov was connected to the gang of Dimitar Zhelyazkov, also known as Mityo Ochite, believed by police to be the main drug dealer on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. He also had convictions for hooliganism and assault. Shirokov, from Pomorie, had encountered Nikolov in the same discotheque several days before the incident, police said.


Sofia murdercase Alexander Alexandrov
In Sofia, In july 2003 the body of Alexander Alexandrov a 37-year-old trader of aluminium window panes from Sofia, was found in his car. The car was submerged in the Danube river. An initial inspection by local police showed that Alexandrov was killed with five bullets in the upper body. Police arrested two men in the town of Dolna Mitropolia several hours later. They are suspected of being involved in the murder.


Pomorie murdercase Todor Shirokov
Todor Shirokov, 31, was killed in july 2003 in front of a discotheque in Pomorie. Local police later detained Alexander Nikolov, 43, from Sofia. He was caught running on the beach near the crime scene holding a Makarov pistol with its factory numbers filed off. Police suspect Nikolov of murdering Shirokov. General Vassil Vassilev, head of the Directorate of the National Police, who later arrived at the scene, said: "The case is closed. The unpleasant thing is that a man was killed." According to police, Shirokov was connected to the gang of Dimitar Zhelyazkov, also known as Mityo Ochite, believed by police to be the main drug dealer on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. He also had convictions for hooliganism and assault. Shirokov, from Pomorie, had encountered Nikolov in the same discotheque several days before the incident, police said.


Sofia murdercase syrian Mustafa Dada
In Sofia, Mustafa Dada, a Syrian citizen permanently residing in Bulgaria, was also killed in july 2003. Dada's body was found by his wife on a parking lot near the apartment building in which they lived. According to the keeper of the parking lot, Dada paid a monthly fee and parked his Mercedes there almost every night. Dada had been arrested by police in 1999 for selling pirate CDs. After this he kept a shop selling Arab food products and CDs of Arab music. According to a shop assistant, all the goods were imported from Syria. Police are currently investigating allegations that Dada was involved smuggling synthetic narcotics from the Middle East. A motive for his murder has not yet been established.


Bulgaria capital Sofia, Krassimir Marinov "Marguin"
Krassimir Marinov "Marguin" was involved in november 2003 in a brawl and shootout at the Sofia nightclub Escape that was participated by Konstantin Dimitrov (he had survived a bombattack earlier that year) and drugdealer Anton Miltenov. The incident was prompted by a shuffle between dimitrov's companions and a rival underworld figure known as Dmitrii Minev aka "Dimata Rusnaka" (the Russian) according to the bulgarian media. The fight at the nightclub was followed by a blast that destroys the Visages cafe owned by topmodel and owner of the Visages model agency Evgenya (Evgenia) Kalkandzhieva, she is a friend of Krassimir Marinov "Marguin". Police suspect 3 men under whom one of Dimitrov's bodyguards Kamen Kraychev.


Amsterdam murdercase Kostantin Dimitrov “Samokovetsa”
6 December 2003 was Bulgarian underworld boss Kostantin Dimitrov “Samokovetsa” killed at the Dam in Amsterdam.


Ivan Todorov “Doktora”
After the murder of underworld boss Konstantin Dimitrov “Samokovetsa” was Todorov pointed as his successor in the country. Todorov was also among the defendants in one of the biggest cases for money laundry in Bulgaria.


Sofia murdercase Stoil Slalov
20 January 2004 a bomb went of in an elevator at the Bul Ins insurance company office in Sofia killing Interpetroleum CEO Stoil Slalov (45 and one of the owners) and his bodyguards Petar Petrov, Iliyan Kazakov (37) and Petar Harizanov. At Stoil Slalov's funeral appear the underworld bosses Krassimir and Nikolay Marinov "the Marguin brothers" and Dmitrii Minev aka Dimata Rusnaka. Killed Philip pavlov Naydenov aka Fatik was a close friend of Interpetroleum CEO Stoil Slalov. One of Bulgaria's most controversial underworld bosses Anton Miltenov aka Klyuna denied responsibilty. The explosion took place at the office building that houses Sofia Interpetrolium and Partners, Bul Ins insurance company SIS Industries and the german foundation Hans Zeidel, as well as more other firms.


Sofia murdercase Milcho Bonev “Baj Mile”
30 July 2004 was Milcho Bonev “Baj Mile”, one of the founders of Bulgaria's obsolete ex-grouping SIC killed in a Sofia shootout. Five of his bodyguards were also killed in the gangland-style shooting that came in broad daylight. Bonev, one of the founders of Bulgaria's obsolete ex-grouping SIC, and his bodyguards were executed July 30, 2004 in broad daylight in Slavia restaurant-garden in Sofia's Ovcha Kupel district . Tihomir Dochev, Stilian Georgiev, Georgi Stefanov, and Anatolii Munkov, aka the Rat were arrested on charges of involvement in the gang-style shooting of Bonev and five of his bodyguards. They were also charged with attempts on Alexander Ananiev's and Emil Stoilov's life. Baj Mile was believed to be an important link in the drug trafficking and distributing network on the Balkans, investigated by Bulgarian and Serbian special services.


Jocic
It is suspected that Jocic ordered the murder of two Bulgarian mafiosi: Poly Pantev (2001) and Milcho Bonev (2004), both of whom dealt in drugs.


Sofia murdercase Dmitrii Minev “Dimata Rusnaka”
27 October 2004 alleged Bulgarian mobster Dmitrii Minev “Dimata Rusnaka” was shot to death on his way out of a cafe in Sofia's central Vitosha Boulevard. A Bulgarian national, trained in the French foreign legion in Marseille, is the suspected killer in the latest mafia-style shootout in Sofia, according to reports. Georgi Zlatkov (former French Legionair?????) The suspect has taken part in a number of assassinations in Bulgaria, while several months ago managed to flee during a police raid, local 24 Hours Daily reported, without disclosing his name. The legionary is believed to work with two other foreign accomplices. The murder of Minev was to be the last operation of the group, which was paid a generous bounty. Autopsy and camera tapes have proved that a sniper, positioned in the building opposite the cafe in front of which the murder occurred, has sent the lethal bullet into Minev's heart.


Zurich, Mladen Mihalev “Madzho”
26 October 2005 newspapers announced that in Zurich bulgarian boss Mladen Mihalev “Madzho” was shot and wounded, he was one of the leaders of 90s strong-arm structure SIC.


Sofia murdercase Emil Kyulev
With assets of a little more than 1-billion levs (about $611m), DZI operates Bulgaria’s largest insurer and its eighth largest bank. Its holdings also include a private pension fund. 26 October 2005 was in Sofia then Emil Kyulev, head of the privately owned DZI financial group, shot and killed after at least one attacker riddled his car with bullets in morning rush-hour traffic in central Sofia, police said. Emil Kyulev was gunned down in the morning, as his jeep was moving down Bulgaria Blvd. Kyulev’s driver was wounded and taken to hospital. A former interior ministry official before the fall of communism in 1989, Kyulev has often been cited by Bulgarian media as one of the country’s richest men.


Bulgaria murdercase Ivan Todorov
22 February 2006 was the bulgarian boss Ivan Todorov "doktora" (42) shot and killed in his porsche.


Brothers Krassimir Marinov and Nikolay Marinov “the Marguins”
The two Marguins, brothers Ivo and Svetlin Karageorgievi and Vesselin Toshev are charged with plotting three murders and arms possession. Former Foreign Minister General Lyubomir Gotsev, Todorov- Doktora, killed in Sofia in February, and the businessman Nikola Damyanov are said to have been the targets of the murders masterminded by the two notorious brothers. information that emerged from Velin Dobrev “Velata”, who is the first in Bulgaria person to be included in the witness protection program. Velata, who is also said to be a professional killer, is the main witness against the Marguins. In his statement Dobrev claims that two Marguins hired him to kill former Foreign Minister General Lyubomir Gotsev, Ivan Todorov “Doktora” (killed) and the businessman Nikola Damyanov. He was to be paid EUR 40,000 for each of the three murders. Dobrev is also a witness in the case against another underworld figure Dimitar Vuchev “Dembi”. On February 23, 2006 a new trial was opened based on the materials from the case against the Marguins. The new trial is against another Bulgarian underworld figure Dimitar Vuchev -Dembi and it includes the protocol for the questioning of Velin Dobrev, which is the base of the case against the Marguins.












Bulgaria’s capital Sofia
Sofia


Bulgaria’s second city Plovdiv
Plovdiv


Bulgaria’s Black Sea resort Varna
Varna is Bulgaria’s third largest city and the biggest city at Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.


Bulgaria’s Black Sea resort Bourgas (Burgas)
Bourgas is the 4th biggest city in Bulgaria, and the biggest Blacksea city after Varna? Bourgas has got ca. 210.000 citizens. Drugbosses Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite” and Plamen Dishkov “Kela” at war.


Bourgas drugboss Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite”
Bulgarian mobster Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite” is said to be one of the major drug dealers in the Black Sea city of Burgas.


Pomorie (near Bourgas) murdercase drugboss
The drugboss in Pomorie (near Bourgas) was killed on 15 June 2000.


Bourgas murdercase drugdealer Georgi Sovkov
30 October 2000 was in Bourgas drugdealer Georgi Sovkov (28) shot and killed.


Bourgas bombattack against drugboss Plamen Dishkov “Kela” (suspect drugboss Zhelyazkov)
In 2001, Zhelyazkov was investigated in connection with a bomb blast in front of a bar in Bourgas, in which the head of rival criminal group Plamen Dishkov “Kela” was wounded and his two bodyguards killed. Police said that the real target of the attack was Plamen Dishkov, believed to have been the chief of the local branch of the now defunct SIC company controlled by mobster groups. Zhelyazkov is said to be one of the six people arrested in connection to a Bourgas bar blast in 2001.


Bourgas bombattack against drugboss Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite” (suspect drugboss Plamen Dishkov)
Several months later, 9 november 2001, a bomb exploded in Dimitar Zhelyazkov's car, killing his wife, her brother and a bodyguard.


6 April 2005
Marian Georgiev dubbed Marata was shot dead Tuesday evening in his office in the Bleck Sea village of Ravda, near Burgas, police officials announced. Georgiev was a key witness in the murder case of Dimitar Stamatov -Mastara, who was killed in 2002. Marian Georgiev was killed with five shots through the window of his office, he died immediately. The murders' car was found charred near the village of Aheloi, police said. The 30-year old Georgiev was a close friend of Stamatov and his business partner. At the last hearing of the case back in January 2004 Georgiev said that the mastermind of the murder Plamen Dishkov had blackmailed Stamatov, who refused to pay him. Last week Burgas Court of Appeals ruled that the murderer Boyko Stoyanov will spend 20years in jail, while Dishkov was acquitted.


Bourgas, criminal Dian Gaytanov
31 October 2003 a handmade bomb destroyed a car in front of a sports center in this Black Sea port injuring nobody, police said. Police said the car owner boxer Dian Gaytanov, 34 had a criminal record.


Sofia arrest Dimitar Zhelyazkv
3 Feb 2004 Bulgarian Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite” who is said to be one of the major drug dealers in the Black Sea city of Burgas, was arrested in Sofia. Zhelyazkov and two of his bodyguards were detained over illegal arms possession. The police check also revealed that the car they were driving was stolen. Police officials also revealed that there were blackmailing and car thefts charges brought against the three detainees.


Sofia arrest Dimitar Zhelyazkv
7 Feb 2004 Sofia city court postponed for February 9 the hearing against Dimitar Zhelyazkov, nicknamed Mitio Ochite, who is said to be one of the major drug dealers in the Black Sea city of Burgas. Zhelyazkov and two of his
bodyguards were arrested in Sofia over illegal arms possession.The prosecutor insisted for 6 years in gaol for the three detainees, while the defence urged for milder measures.


Burgas murdercase businessman Nedyalko Pipirkov (33)
23 February 2004 a bomb planted at the car of Bulgarian Nedyalko Piperkov, aged 33, exploded and killed the man as he headed back home from a visit at his mother's home, Bulgarian police reported. The device was most probably activated using remote control, media said. The victim used to run a construction firm as well as a company dealing
with petrol. He is also said to own clubs in Burgas and in the high-class Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach. The assault comes after a number of publicly carried out murders in Bulgaria, most of which targeted people from the country's "underworld." There were, however, no immediate reports of Piperkov being involved in any illegal activities, except tax evasion attempts. Piperkov was married, with a daughter at the age of five.


Bourgas drugboss Dimitar Zhelyazkov “Mitio Ochite”
2 March 2004 a special expertise carried out in connection to the case of the alleged Bulgarian mobster Dimitar Zhelyazkov, nicknamed Mitio Ochite, who is said to be one of the major drug dealers in the Black Sea city of Burgas proved that the gun he possesed was not customized. Zhelyazkov's lawyer Iliyan Vassilev announced that.
Zhelyazkov and two of his bodyguards were arrested in Sofia over illegal arms possession. They were also said to have possessed customized weapons. The prosecutor demands for a sentence of 6 years in prison. His name is also connected to the kidnapping of two drug dealers from the town of Sozopol. Sofia Regional Court sentenced Zhelyazkov to a year and a half imprisonment, suspended for three years. The verdicts could be appealed within fifteen days.


Bourgas drugdealer Dimitar Zhelyazkov
25 March 2004 a Bulgarian court postponed the case against a suspected mobster, charged with kidnapping. Dimitar Zhelyazkov, who is said to be a major drug dealer in the Black Sea city of Bourgas, will stand trial on April 7. He is defendant in the trial together with four of his allies.


Bourgas murdercase Dimitar Vidiliev
18 August 2004 One man was killed and another wounded in a shootout in downtown Bourgas on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The victim was identified as Dimitar Vidiliev, aka Relax. The other casualty Todor Stamov suffered injuries in the left hand. Unidentified assaulters opened fire at the two men as they were getting into a Sofia-registered car. It was not immediately clear whether the two men have criminal records.


7/16/2005
An alleged Bulgarian mobster, who is said to be one of the major drug dealers in the Black Sea city of Burgas, has been detained over the deadly blast in Obzor earlier this week. Dimitar Zhelyazkov, nicknamed Mitio Ochite, will be interrogated by the police. The suspected ganglang bomb claimed the life of a two-year old child, its mother and injured heavily the father. Rali Penkov, who is believed to have been the target of the attack, has been interrogated by the police. He is head of a private security firm and concessionaire of the local beach at Obzor.

[puparo]

Hollander??????


Sofia
24 january 2001 was criminal businessman Emil Dimitrov “Makaron”, whose firm "Unison" was known as a major producer of pirate compact discs, killed. “Makaron” had been the former partner of Zeljko Raznatovic “Arkan” who exported the compact disc production to Montenegro.



Serb dictator Slobodan Milosevic’s son Marco Milosevic is believed to have been part of the scheme for smuggling cigarettes through the Black Sea port of Burgas together with Ivan Todorov, known as Doktora, a prominent underworld figure who was shot dead in Sofia. Doktora however is also believed to be the contact person for Sreten Jocic.


Ivan Todorov had also via the killed Poli Pantev contacts with "Arkan" and Jocic

Poli Pantev the biggest heroin and coketransporter in Bulgaria with his partner Zeljko Raznjatovic "Arkan" (killed in 2000, and then no friends anymore with Jocic at that point) and Pantev kiled 9 march 2001 at Aruba probably at the orders of Jocic after coke had disappeared or had been confiscated , at Pantev had already in july 2000 been an ambush with a rocket.


Jocic who also was at war with Zemun boss Milorad Lukovic "Legija" who had with his Zemun clan his own partners in Bulgaria


The Balkan routes bosses and alliances for a bit?????


anybody knows more about this??????


very intrested


respects

[puparo]

Killed Bulgarian Mobster "Laundered EUR 25 M for Macedonia"

Bulgarian mobster Ivan Todorov, dubbed Doktora, who was killed February 22, has laundered over EUR 25 M for the Macedonian government between 1998 and 2002, reports say.

Todorov was part of a Serbian-Macedonian-Bulgarian cigarette-smuggling and money-laundering chain, Serbian "Vreme" (Time) magazine reports.

After the government fell in 2002, information of Todorov's involvement was presented to Bulgarian authorities and charges were brought against him, the magazine claims. Around that time a major report on organized crime came out in Bulgaria, linking former Finance Minister and current MP Milen Velchev with Todorov. Back then some officials announced the report had included pictures of Velchev and then MP Miroslav Sevlievksi playing cards alongside Todorov on a yacht in Monaco, the magazine reminds.

Cigarettes coming from Cyprus to Bulgaria's Burgas for the the son of toppled Serb dictator Slobodan Milosevic, Marco, were then sent to Macedonia with Todorov's help, according to the publication.

Earlier in the week former top customs officials denied previous reports that implicated Bulgaria in a massive cigarette smuggling scheme, controlled by Marco Milosevic.

"Bulgaria has never been involved in a Serbian cigarette smuggling ring," former head of the Customs Agency Emil Dimitrov told private TV channel bTV.

The Serbian connection surfaced again after Todorov was shot in the middle of the day in downtown Sofia, while riding in his Porsche Cayenne. This was the second attempt on his life, after he survived in 2003 when his car was blown up in one of Sofia's busiest arteries.

"""

[puparo]

Gabriel Ronay -

SERBIA remains a safe haven for everyone – including indicted war criminals and racketeers – connected to Slobodan Milosevic's nationalist regime. In the fifth year of the ex-president's war crimes trial, the Milosevic name still works its magic. Among fugitive "Serb war heroes", disgraced nationalist politicians and unemployed paramilitary gangsters, Marco Milosevic's smuggling racket is the talk of the town.

Marco has been running Belgrade's biggest contraband cigarettes scam, netting €76 million during a seven-year accounting period alone. According to a report by the Serbian Department Combating Organised Crime, the Marco gang has cornered the cigarette smuggling market "with the backing of the State Security Service, top Customs officials and several politicians in close contacts with them."

The old Serbian state apparatus is looking after its own. Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic and Marco Milosevic are just the tip of the iceberg. And murder has not posed much of a headache for the nationalist racketeers.

Recently Ratko's supply lines ran into trouble in Bulgaria after he fell out with the kingpin of that end of his racket. Ivan Todorov was shot dead in his Porsche in Sofia last month. It was the second attempt on his life. Sofia sources suggest he knew too much about the Belgrade end of Marco's scam.

According to Belgrade's investigative television programme Insider, Marco and Todorov began their operation through the Black Sea port of Burgas and the border checkpoint of Kalotina in 2003 with the connivance of Bulgarian and Serbian officials. But Marco's cigarette racket actually began in 1996. Brankica Stankovic of the Insider programme revealed that, in spite of several Serbian police investigations, "Marco's classic cigarette smuggling via Bulgaria had earned him €76m between 1996 and 2003 alone."

Sofia police have arrested Velin Dobrev–Velata, a professional assassin, and charged him with Todorov's murder. The investigation is offering a brief glimpse of the Serb nationalists' close links to the Balkans underworld.

Dobrev-Velata admitted shooting Todorov for €40,000 but offered to turn state's evidence. According to Sofia's Darik Radio, Marco took out a contract on Todorov. The contract was with the Marguins, a Sofia "Murder Inc" run by the underworld figures Krassimir and Nikolay Marinov who paid Dobrev-Velata the €40,000. He admitted receiving the same sum for two other notorious murders.

Plamen Minev, former head of Bulgarian Customs, said in an interview: "Bulgaria has become the transhipment point for [contraband] cigarettes and the process is completely regulated. In this way Serbia remains the only end-user for contraband cigarettes." Until Todorov's murder, the Bulgarian authorities looked the other way.

Marco is no novice in the gangster stakes. During his father's rule, his many underworld "businesses," based on the Milosevic family's home town of Pozarevac, flourished. After the collapse of the regime, Marco was driven out of town. But people are still too terrified of the old guard to act against their murderous former leaders.

However, under relentless EU pressure, the Serbian state's secret protection of the Milosevic old guard is rapidly becoming too costly for Belgrade. - sunday herald

[Hollander]

Cigarette Smuggling: The Montenegrin Connection


BERLIN, 19.3.2006. (Beta)

By Snezana Bogavac

By mid 2006 a court in the German town of Augsburg in the federal province of Bavaria will decide whether to accept an indictment against six individuals involved in smuggling cigarettes through Montenegro, an illegal enterprise that is said to have caused at least EUR10.2 billion in damages to the EU.

The group of six men who were charged after a comprehensive, nine-year investigation includes one man from Serbia, according to what Augsburg State Prosecutor Hans-Juergen Kolb tells Kriminal NET. However, since pre-trial activities are still in progress, he did not want to give any of their names.

The indictment was filed in 2005, but he is supposed to review the documents sometime in March or April after getting them back from the defendants` attorneys. Three of the men are Swiss nationals, one is a Spaniard, and one is a German. They are charged with smuggling cigarettes through Montenegro, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy.

"All of that took place with the knowledge and approval of the authorities of Serbia and Montenegro," Kolb tells Kriminal NET. He is convinced that the affair, dubbed the "Montenegrin Connection" in Germany, is the biggest case of fraud in Europe.

Kolb has over 30 years` experience working in the judiciary and has participated in 80 cigarette smuggling cases. As a prosecutor, he is one of the most experienced fighters against the tobacco mob. In addition, he has also taken part in prosecuting several corruption affairs involving local politicians.

In an earlier interview Kolb said that his office has since 1993 had access to cigarette smuggling data collected by customs officers and prosecutors from a number of German cities. Since then, somewhere between 60 and 70 cases have been prosecuted, some of which resulted in convictions. One of these investigations eventually led to the six currently up for prosecution, although initially nine people were involved.

The group at hand is charged with smuggling mostly Winston and Marlboro cigarettes via Montenegro between 1992 and 1995, while international sanctions were in effect, and later, from 1998 to 2001. Untaxed cigarettes were first delivered to the Port of Bar in Montenegro, together with forged receipts, by the Swiss organizers of the illicit business, and then transferred from Montenegro, whose government was paid about $300 million "license fee" to guard the shipments.

Afterward, the merchandise was transferred to Italy in speedboats and from Italy the chain branched out to the various black markets existing in Europe. The business was a very profitable one, according to customs officers taking part in the probe. In addition, infighting after the lifting of the international embargo against Serbia and Montenegro, then constituting the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, left between 50 and 60 people dead. The most prominent of these was Vladimir "Vanja" Bokan, a Yugoslav "businessman" who was brutally gunned down in Athens in the autumn of 2000. He was hit by 25 bullets. German investigators believe Bokan was eliminated after agreeing to divulge information about the smuggling operation and the involvement of the Montenegrin and Serbian authorities. Kolb has claimed to be in possession of entries from Bokan`s diary that confirm this.

Related investigations are in progress in several other European countries, and more than 100 people are being scrutinized. The Prosecutor`s Office in Augsburg and customs officers from the town of Lindau are paying special attention to a route leading from Serbia and Montenegro to the southern borders of Germany, and have the evidence to prove their case.

Among other things, the indictment states the Swiss defendant who was in charge of the operation paid former Montenegrin Finance Minister Predrag Goranovic between two and three million euros for his "services" and that the money was deposited in a bank account in Cyprus. Goranovic has denied these claims, adding that the fact that the matter is being brought up now "is an assault on the independence of Montenegro."

In one interview with Croatia`s Nacional paper, which at point offered detailed coverage of all affairs related to the tobacco mob, Kolb said he could not release the names of the Montenegrin officials believed to have profited from the smuggling operations due to the then ongoing investigation, although he did mention Goranovic. Kolb also added that "Goranovic got his money from Vladimir Bokan," stressing that "it has been determined that Goranovic was getting $20 per package of cigarettes from a Swiss national."

Kolb also told the Croatian publication that Montenegrin firm MTT (Montenegro Tobacco Transit) was party to the smuggling operation, adding that his office had ordered a German bank to free the firm`s account, adding that company officials must have known that they were involved in something illegal.

"There are between 20 and 25 major cigarette smugglers operating in Europe," Kolb added, saying that one in five of them is from the Balkans, including Stanko "Cane" Subotic and Srecko Kester. According to Kolb, the damages worked out to about EUR1 billion each year.

Subotic, also a wealthy businessman, has denied playing any part in cigarette smuggling. He says that the allegations are being fueled by his rivals, Croatia`s Tvornica Duhana Rovinj, Japan Tobacco International, and several powerful Croatian tycoons: Hrvoje Petrac, Vladimir Zagorac, and Ivo Pukanic, who happens to own the Nacional paper, as well as Ratko Knezevic, former head of the Montenegrin Trade Mission in the U.S. According to Subotic, a London-based detective agency called Forensic Investigative Associates, hired by JTI, is behind the campaign against him. In 2002, Subotica won a libel lawsuit against Nacional.

Now that the indictment has become active, we asked Kolb whether the indicted Serb is somebody with a criminal or political background. "This person was certainly involved in the government`s scams," adding that his name was mentioned in a report from a commission set up by the Montenegrin Legislature to investigate a cigarette smuggling affair several years ago.

Kolb says that the defendant is still in Serbia-Montenegro. He adds that the German authorities will consider seeking his extradition once the indictment is approved in court. After that, a warrant would be issued if the defendant failed to show up at the main hearing. However, Kolb points out that extradition is impossible or very difficult when it comes to citizens of Serbia-Montenegro, stressing that other courts have had serious problems with this as well.

In response to a question about the possible effects the indictment might have on the political integration of Serbia-Montenegro with the EU when it is endorsed, Kolb says he is very disappointed that so far, the EU has provided his efforts with little support and does not believe that will suddenly change now.

Claims in Montenegro that the indictment is intended to smear Montenegro ahead of its independent referendum have little to do with what is going on in Augsburg. The fact remains that the indictment was initially released last year and only after undergoing changes to meet legal requirements. After talking with Kolb, the impression is that he wants to find out how the EU ended up losing so much money, not influence political events in the Balkans.

Kolb says he hopes the indictment will be approved in court, although "there is a possibility that will not happen because nobody is interested anymore." However, the Serbian public and law enforcement bodies are interested, and material has been sent to the special prosecutor for organized crime in Serbia. A number of Belgrade media outlets have reported that Marko Milosevic, son of the former Yugoslav president, was involved in the illicit trade.

(BETA)

[Hollander]

Bulgarian-Headed Intl Crime Gang Crushed


Crime: 26 April 2006, Wednesday.

An international crime group, headed by a Bulgarian national, dealing with drugs and arms traffic in several European countries has been crushed.

The news was broken by Bulgaria's Interior Minister Rumen Petkov, who also explained that the gang consisted of nine people working in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Greece.

The crime gang dealt with traffic in arms, drugs and cigarettes on a worldwide scale, Petkov explained. He added that the cigarettes were exported from Greece through the Netherlands to the UK.

[Hollander]

EU deadline on Mladic approaches
A European Union deadline for Serbia to hand over war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is set to expire.
The EU says it will stop talks on closer ties with Serbia-Montenegro if Gen Mladic is not arrested by 30 April.

On Friday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said it was time to "locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague (tribunal) without delay".

The former Bosnian Serb military chief is charged with genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and other crimes.

Along with his civilian counterpart, Radovan Karadzic, he is the most wanted war crimes suspect in Europe. He is thought to be hiding somewhere in Serbia.

'Serious consequences'

The BBC's Nick Hawton says this would not be the first time a deadline had passed without the arrest of Gen Mladic.

But he says this time there could be serious consequences for the Serbian government, which has made membership of the EU a key priority.

Serbia-Montenegro opened talks on a Stability and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU - the first step on the path to membership - in October 2005.

Last month, the EU decided to carry on with the talks after assurances by UN Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Carla del Ponte and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica that Gen Mladic would be arrested.

But after meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic on Friday, Mr Rehn told reporters that the EU had "no other option than to call off the next round of negotiations" planned for 11 May if Gen Mladic was not arrested within days.

Ms del Ponte is expected to give her assessment of Serbia's co-operation later this week. If her report is also negative then the EU may feel obliged to suspend future talks with Serbia, our correspondent says.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4959196.stm

Published: 2006/04/30 00:25:44 GMT

[Hollander]

Key witness in Arkan murder trial killed.

http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?...style=headlines

[Hollander]

Underworld Bosses Trial in Court


Crime: 5 May 2006, Friday.

Sofia City Court is set to decide by noon whether to launch the trial against underworld bosses Krassimir and Nikolay Marinov - dubbed the Marguins and another five people, said to be their accomplices.

The two Marguins and their accomplices are charged with plotting three murders and arms possession.

Former Foreign Minister General Lyubomir Gotsev, Ivan Todorov- Doktora, killed in Sofia in February, and the businessman Nikola Damyanov are said to have been the targets of the murders masterminded by the two notorious brothers.

The courtroom was heavily guarded and even police officers were subjected to thorough checks. The detainees refused to be photographed. There were fourteen lawyers set to defend the Marguins and the other detainees. Two of the defence lawyers, however, failed to appear.

[Hollander]

Two arrested in hunt for Mladic
Serbian police have arrested two people suspected of helping top Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic evade capture, Belgrade court officials say.
It brings to 10 the number of people arrested in recent weeks in connection with the search for General Mladic.

Serbia is also reported to have set up a telephone hotline to get information about the ex-Bosnian Serb commander.

On Wednesday the EU halted talks on closer ties with Serbia over its failure to apprehend Mr Mladic.

The international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has charged Mr Mladic with genocide in connection with the wartime massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica in 1995.

As the hunt for him intensified, police searched the Mladic family home in the Belgrade district of Banovo Brdo on Friday, Serbian B92 radio reported.

The house, where Mr Mladic's son Darko lives, was blocked off by police cars and officers wearing balaclavas, Reuters news agency reported.

On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Mr Mladic was "alone" on the run since the government had detained key people on whom he had relied for support.

"His entire network has been uncovered; Mladic is now hiding all alone," he said.

The chief prosecutor at the tribunal, Carla del Ponte, said on Wednesday that the Serbian authorities had located him two weeks ago, but let him slip away again.

[Hollander]

Man accused of killing Serb leader claims admission was given under pressure

http://news.bostonherald.com/international...rticleid=138518

[Hollander]

Killed Bulgarian Mobster Made EUR 400,000 a Year Trafficking


Crime: 10 May 2006, Wednesday.

Killed Bulgarian mobster Ivan Todorov, dubbed Doktora, made hundreds of thousands from the cigarette-trafficking channel he was part of, media revealed.

The smugglers' total turnover per year was between EUR 6 B and EUR 8 B, and Todorov's share was about EUR 400,000, financial intelligence experts said for private Darik radio.

Apart from Todorov, the smuggling channel that was controlled by an Italian family also included two notorious Greek brothers. Bulgaria's late mobster was among the smaller fish in the channel, experts said.

Cigarettes went from China through Cyprus or Montenegro through Bulgaria, ending in the UK.

Ivan Todorov became a household name in Bulgaria after a failed attempt on his life in April 2003. He was the target of numerous police investigations, including goods smuggling and money laundry. Todorov was shot dead while riding his Porsche Cayenne in the center of Sofia on February 22.

[Hollander]

Underworld Boss Blackmailing Trial Delayed for June 27
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=63812


The Sunday Times May 21, 2006

Bulgarian mafia turf wars to hit EU
Nicola Smith, Brussels


AS a successful but dubious businessman in Bulgaria, Ivo Markov may have been expecting an attempt on his life before the first bullet struck him on a dark Wednesday evening in Sofia, the capital. Several more shots slammed into his head and chest before Markov, 42, lay dead in the parking space beneath his house.

Markov, who owned computer software and building companies, was believed to have links with cocaine smugglers. His unsolved murder this month was a sign of the mafia’s grip on the upper echelons of Bulgarian business and society.



In the past five years 150 people have been killed by assailants ranging from snipers to machinegun-wielding thugs who appear to be above the law.

Last week a senior European police officer acknowledged his fears that Bulgaria’s entry to the European Union, due in 2007, would prompt contract killers to spread across Europe.

Klaus Jansen, a German investigator, was sent by Brussels to assess the state of Bulgaria’s battle against crime. He said he believed it was inevitable that Bulgarian contract killings would move to other European capitals as turf wars spread between mafia gangs.

“Once Bulgarians set up communities abroad the mafia will come with them, and their mafia is really brutal,” he said.

According to Jansen, Bulgaria has set a grim standard in Europe for the number and professionalism of its contract killings. The murders, for which hitmen receive up to Ł20,000, are not limited to members of the criminal underworld and none has resulted in a conviction. Recent victims have included Bulgaria’s top banker, the owner of a first division football team and a leading customs official.

Vasil Ivanov, an investigative journalist, had a lucky escape. In April a bomb ripped through his apartment, blowing apart brick walls and smashing windows throughout his 12storey block of flats.

Ivanov, who has uncovered cases of crime and abuse of power among police, lawyers and state officials, had been threatened before but said he was shocked by the indiscriminate violence of the attack.

“I expected something like this to happen. I thought I might be shot at, or beaten up, but I didn’t expect them to try to kill so many people,” he said.

Bulgarian criminologists and human rights experts say the mafia is developing new power bases, stretching its tentacles into the most powerful sectors of society. “A number of families are starting to control this country. And a new type of organised crime linked to the political and economic elite is gradually being formed,” said Tihomir Bezlov, a political analyst at the Sofia Centre for the Study of Democracy.

It is this link that is believed to lie behind the lack of criminal convictions. Last week a report by the European commission warned Sofia that it must show “clear evidence” of its fight against underworld crime.

“Indictments, prosecutions, trials, convictions and deterrent sentences remain rare in the fight against high-level corruption,” the report said.

Jansen’s assessment, also released last week, dismissed crime busting efforts as “a total mess” and said European police information passed to Sofia could end up with criminals.

Boris Velchev, Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor, admitted that the country has a problem but pointed out that six senior officials had been convicted of corruption and three legislators indicted, including a former mayor of Sofia.

[Hollander]

Joca Amsterdam free on bail | 16:54 May 25 | B92

BELGRADE -- The Belgrade District Court has freed Sreten Jocic, known as Joca Amsterdam, on 300,000 euros bail.

Jocic will be able to carry on with his defence outside of custody, according to a statement from the court.

The court accepted bail of 300,000 euros and “the already given promise that the suspect will report whenever the court calls on him and that he will not leave his residence without the permission of the judges.”

The court also rejected the prosecution’s appeal to have the possibility of posting bail denied.

Jocic is said to be one of the leading drug bosses in all of Europe.

[puparo]

Belangrijke getuige in proces-Djindjic vermoord

ANP


BELGRADO - Een belangrijke getuige in het proces tegen de verdachten van de moord op de voormalige Servische premier Zoran Djindjic is in Belgrado vermoord. Dat heeft het Servische ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken zaterdag laten weten.


Het lijk van de getuige, Zoran Vukojevic, werd langs een snelweg in de buurt van de luchthaven van Belgrado gevonden. Vukojevic, een vroeger lid van een criminele bende die in verband met de moord is gebracht, weigerde in een getuigenbeschermingsprogramma opgenomen te worden en liep rond zonder bewaking.

Djindjic speelde een belangrijke rol bij de overwinning van Vojislav Kostunica op Slobodan Milosevic tijdens de presidentsverkiezingen in september 2000. Djindjic zelf werd begin 2001 de eerste democratisch gekozen en pro-westerse premier van Servië.

In 2001 liet Djindjic Milosevic naar het Joegoslavië-Tribunaal in Den Haag sturen. Djindjic werd in maart 2003 doodgeschoten, naar wordt aangenomen na een complot tussen de georganiseerde misdaad en voormalige paramilitairen. Dertien mensen zijn aangeklaagd.

[Hollander]

Trial Begins against Bulgarian Gangland Brothers
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=64675

[Hollander]

Serbia's Zemun Clan "Withdraws" from Bulgaria


Crime: 19 June 2006, Monday.

The Zemun Clan, Serbia's most influential mafia organization is withdrawing from Bulgaria, from where it "managed" the drug traffic, Serbian Kurir newspaper reported.

The Zemun leaders the brothers Alexander and Milos Simovi are now in Serbia after international drug-trafficker Sreten Jocic was released on a bail from a Belgrade jail. According to the report the two brothers fear that he is now to revenge as they have taken over his territory in Bulgaria and his drug channels here.

The Serbian police is close to crushing the Zemun clan as they have traced the main figures in the clan due to the drug traffic they managed from Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Darik radio reported that the Bulgarian police and their Serbia colleagues are working together on that case.

[Hollander]

Blasted Bulgarian was Award-Winning Businessman


A bomb killed Bulgaria’s Assen Nikolov (right), who had won a young manager award last year (pictured). Photo by Evrika.org

Top news: 5 August 2006, Saturday.

The man who was killed by an explosion in Varna on Friday night was Assen Nikolov, 31, an acknowledged businessman from the fields of trade and agriculture.

Nikolov died around 10:15 p.m. the previous night, when a device exploded in his hands.

The young entrepreneur, a father of two children, had won the Evrika young manager's award in 2005. According to the foundation, his company Farin was a leader in trade and agriculture, particularly in producing cereals.

Last year was a significant success for the company. Evrika Foundation's website says.

Farin doubled the number of its employees, to reach 200, while export revenues went up 60% to more than EUR 4 M.

They also spent EUR 1 M in two years to develop a subsidiary transport firm. Busilding and renovating their service, trade and administrative facilities absorbed EUR 0.5 M.

The bomb that tore Assen Nikolov to immediate death was apparently in the package, which he was carrying when stepping out of his car on Friday night, Darik News report.

Nikolov's body was tossed away in a garden in from of his house from the powerful blast.

[Peter]

Mr Big forecasts a UK crime wave

Mark Franchetti, Sofia
The Sunday Times August 06, 2006

SIPPING whisky for breakfast on his gilded throne, Tsar Kiro, the leader of Bulgaria's gypsy community, sees a crime wave engulfing Britain and the rest of Europe when his country joins the European Union next year.

“Crime and corruption in Bulgaria are huge problems and once the borders open up the country will be exporting both to the EU,” predicted Kiro as an armed female bodyguard paced outside his marble mansion in Plovdiv, the country’s second largest city, 100 miles east of Sofia, the capital.

“EU membership will provide criminals with many new opportunities. They will expand their empires while corrupt bureaucrats who have been stealing from their people and the EU will have a chance to siphon off even more when billions of dollars in subsidies start flowing in.”

A well-known figure in Bulgaria who made a fortune in the alcohol trade, Kiro, 64, has dabbled in politics and posed for photographs with the likes of King Simeon of Bulgaria and George Soros, the billionaire American philanthropist.

But in May he was furious when his portrait appeared in less respectable company. Italian police placed it at the top of a pyramid of mugshots of more than 100 alleged criminals from Bulgaria accused of involvement in an international child smuggling ring.

Kiro vehemently denied any involvement and Italian police have since ruled out investigating him further. Police in Bulgaria, however, are looking into allegations that Kiro threatened a local journalist who published a photo of the pyramid, portraying him as one of two bosses running the crime syndicate.

“I had a mild heart attack because of this whole affair, which is the result of discrimination against the gypsies,” said Kiro, who served five years in jail for gold trading more than a decade ago when private business was forbidden under communist rule.

Some 41 members of the alleged crime syndicate, mostly gypsies, were arrested in raids across Europe on charges of buying or “renting” out children as young as nine and smuggling them to Italy where they were enslaved and forced to pick pockets.

The children were threatened and beaten if they failed to bring in their daily quota of loot and were also forced to work as drug couriers. Italian police, who conducted the two-year investigation codenamed “Elvis Bulgaria”, said they also found evidence of sexual exploitation. One 14-year-old girl they found was eight months pregnant.

“If we failed to bring back enough money they would first starve us of food and then beat us,” an 11-year-old girl told police. “They beat some of the kids so hard they couldn’t walk for days. They told me that they would torture me to death if I tried to run away.”

Commenting on the arrests, Kiro said: “I believe most of those arrested by the Italians are innocent, but I won’t deny there is a problem with crime in the gypsy community. And once Bulgaria joins the EU of course criminals from Plovdiv and across Bulgaria will head for Britain, Germany and the other countries.”

In May Klaus Jansen, a German police investigator sent to assess Sofia’s battle against crime, warned of contract killings spreading to other EU states once Bulgaria joins.

A small country of only 7.3m people, Bulgaria has been the scene of more than 150 assassinations in mafia turf wars and business disputes in the past five years. None has been solved.

Jansen, who declared that “as far as police and law enforcement are concerned, Bulgaria is definitely not ready for EU membership”, surprised few with his damning verdict.

One of Bulgaria’s most high-profile contract killings was the shooting in February of cigarette smuggling boss Ivan “the Doctor” Todorov, which took place in broad daylight during one of Jansen’s visits. He is also unlikely to have been very impressed by learning about the murder before the head of intelligence at Bulgaria’s organised crime fighting unit.

Amid mounting suspicion of links between crime gangs and political figures, the EU has expressed concern about the Bulgarian authorities’ failure to combat money laundering and the drugs trade, and curtail rampant corruption.

Up to Ł10 billion of EU money is earmarked for the country over the next seven years, a fund Brussels experts fear will be a target for criminals and corrupt politicians.

Such are the concerns that Bulgaria’s EU membership is in danger of being delayed by a year. A decision on whether it will be allowed to join on January 1 next year will be made in October.

Under pressure, the authorities have made a few high-profile arrests, charging the Marinovi brothers, two alleged crime bosses, with the hit on “the Doctor” and two other murders. Since then a truce has been called between the capital’s two other main gangs, stopping the killings, according to sources in Sofia’s underworld. But they warn the pact is unlikely to hold after Bulgaria joins the EU.

“For organised crime it won’t make much difference,” said one Bulgarian criminal. “They are already well established, especially in Germany, Italy and Spain.

“But for the smaller guys, especially gypsy criminals who before found it difficult to travel easily across Europe, the opening of borders will present a world of opportunities.

“It’s like leaving your house unlocked and hoping thieves won’t come to help themselves. Why shouldn’t they?”

[Hollander]

Showdown in Nis Underworld

NISS , 23.7.2006. (Beta) by Jadranka Tasic

The murder of Radoljub Kanjevac in Nis on July 1 proved that Operation Saber, a police crackdown on organized crime after the 2003 assassination of premier Zoran Djindjic, has failed to put an end to brutal showdowns in the underworld in Nis, the biggest city in southern Serbia.

According to information of the Nis police, announced at a news conference back in 2002, Kanjevac, 35, was the chief of one of three criminal groups in Nis. According to the police, his gang was the only one not involved in drug trafficking.

Kanjevac was murdered in front of the house he lived in, by several shots in the head, which is the usual way of killing rivals in the Serbian underworld. He managed to avoid being killed on three previous occasions, when the attackers were not this efficient. Although he saw his attackers clearly every time, Kanjevac refused to cooperate with the police, so there have been no arrests. Even now, the investigation yielded no results.

Radoljub Kanjevac is the third boss in the Nis underworld killed in the past five years. Before him, Bratislav Mitic, also known as Lule, and Aleksandar Stamenkovic were murdered as well. Kanjevac, however, never stood trial, although his group has been involved in extortion for several years, according to police sources. Not even his closest associates have ever been prosecuted, in spite of a number of misdemeanor reports filed against them for violent behavior.

In the past the Nis underworld has never had any showdowns, as the three gangs registered by the police never worked against each other. The situation, however, changed drastically after 2000, although the reasons are not publicly known. Fierce clashes among them culminated in 2002.

Then, according to the indictment, the chief of the strongest criminal clan in Nis, Ivan Antic, also known as Sica, killed the chief of the rival group, Aleksandar Stamenkovic and his friend from Vrsac, Robert Viciknez, in broad daylight and in front of several witnesses. According to the police, both clans have been involved in drug trafficking. According to the same source, Antic`s group is selling narcotics in the territory of Nis, Pirot and Krusevac. Antic was arrested and is still in custody, and a marathon court case is under way against him.

Jovan Milic, the former chief of the Nis crime police, who was active at the time of the double murder, told Kriminal NET that the so-called "Sica`s Group" is still active and that Antic is running it from prison.

"Sica`s group is very much active, unlike that of Stamenkovic, which simply fell apart soon after his death. To be more precise, Stamenkovic`s cronies simply joined other gangs," Milic said. In his words, since the criminals are operating in Nis without punishment, there are reasons to suspect that they have connections with certain lawyers, prosecutors and judges.

According to police information, Antic started his criminal career as a member of Radoljub Kanjevac`s gang, from whom he later separated. Kanjevac`s rapid rise began after the first failed murder attempt in September 2002. It was then that the police arrested Nenad Petrovic, also known as Pesa the Boxer, suspecting that he had tried to kill Kanjevac. However, Kanjevac refused to disclose the identity of his attacker at the trial, so Petrovic was acquitted. People close to Kanjevac, however, told Kriminal NET that he was receiving threats by phone from Switzerland before his death. According to the police, Nenad Petrovic belongs to a gang run by the Ajkovic family from Nis. Their main activity is smuggling heroin and cocaine from Turkey, via Serbia, to Switzerland.

Although he moved to Zurich several years ago, Petrovic was seen in Nis shortly before Radoljub Kanjevac`s murder. However, he was not brought in connection with the murder. Eyewitnesses told Kriminal NET that people from Kanjevac`s group swore at his funeral to avenge him. Sources in the Nis police said they feared more violence.

(BETA)

[Hollander]

Masked Shooter Kills Man in Sofia


Crime: 28 August 2006, Monday.

A 28-year-old man was killed by a shooter in Sofia Monday, in broad daylight.

The victim was shot by a masked man in the Gotse Delchev district, at the crossing of "Todor Kableshkov" and "Kostenski Vodopad."

According to the police, the attackers fired shots from a car, and escaped from the crime scene immediately.

Later during the day, media identified the victim as Dragomir Iliev, reported to be among Bulgaria's most notorious car thieves. He was well known to the police, too, with a criminal record for numerous robberies.

Iliev died minutes after the attack. He has hit in the head by two bullets.

The man was killed before the eyes of his girlfriend, media revealed. The woman was the one who rang up the police, and authorities said she was "hysterical."

Police officers sealed off the area to examine the site of the shooting, and started a search for suspects, the Interior Ministry said.

A heavy rain that showered the are a few hours after the incident might has washed away some evidence, media reported.

That was not the first attempt on Iliev's life, but he had survived the previous incidents.

[Hollander]

RS Police Discover Biggest Marijuana Lab


BANJALUKA, 28.8.2006. (Beta) By Ljiljana Kovacevic

In early August, police in Republika Srpska discovered what has been described as the biggest marijuana production and processing lab found in the country to date. Not long afterwards, they also arrested three people on charges of processing and selling the drug, imported from the Netherlands.

According to a police statement, officers arrested Zvonko Lukic, Dragoljub Romic, and Bogdan Novakovic on Aug. 11. The District Court in Banjaluka has ordered them held for one month. The drug lab was found in the village of Prijebljeza near the town of Srbac in the Bosnian Serb entity. According to investigators, the lab did it all, from growing cuttings and mature plants, to harvesting, drying, and packaging of the completed narcotic.

It was discovered that the laboratory had state-of-the art, expensive equipment purchased in the Netherlands. The machines ensured very specific conditions conducive to marijuana raising, such as the right temperature, amount of light, and humidity.

Police say the laboratory started operating in December 2005. Banjaluka prosecutors told KriminalNET that it was located on land owned by Romic`s father and in buildings that were once henhouses. The chicken farm was vacated after the elder Romic developed problems with debts.

Prosecutor Milan Tegeltija, who is in charge of the case, told us that Zvonko Lukic is also wanted by Croatia`s Interpol office for drug and weapons smuggling. After the discovery of the illicit lab, media reports claimed that Lukic was born in Otok Slavonski in Croatia and is wanted within an international anti-crime operation called Boomerang.

The operation, which affected Croatia and the Netherlands, took place in 2002 and 2003 and led to the arrest of a number of individuals, as well the impounding of significant quantities of firearms and drugs. Lukic supposedly headed an international crime ring that smuggled weapons from the former Yugoslavia to the Dutch underworld, trading it for synthetic drugs.

According to the media, police from several countries collaborated to disrupt the group`s plans as part of an operation that began as far back as 2001. The gang consisted of Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Montenegrin nationals. Investigators say Lukic was in touch with his Dutch partners through Miralem Memovic and Naser Jusic, both citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina who were later apprehended in the Netherlands.

Dutch police discovered that Memovic and Jusic were supply guns to Kevin Blav, Jozef Rohenen, and Jo Koenen, three Dutch nationals who were already known to be operating a lab outputting synthetic drugs. Croatian police also participated in the operation by listening in on telephone calls and discovering that Lukic and Stjepan Mihaljinec were the ring leaders.

Police officers were dispatched to follow them on their frequent trips to the Netherlands and hidden cameras were used to film them as they handed over weapons and drugs. When enough hard evidence was available, Dutch and Croatian police simultaneously rounded up most of the members of the group. Lukic, however, managed to escape arrest. In all, 14 people were taken into custody in Croatia and the Netherlands.

Lukic has now been arrested in Republika Srpska, although Croatia is seeking his extradition. Prosecutor Tegeltija told Kriminal NET that the Bosnia-Herzegovina Justice Ministry is in charge of extradition requests, adding that before he is extradited, RS authorities will have to finish prosecuting him in the Bosnian Serb entity.

(BETA)

[Hollander]

1 Bulgarian Killed, 4 Injured in Shootout in Italy

Crime: 18 September 2006, Monday.

One Bulgarian was killed and another four heavily injured in a shootout at a villa in the Italian town of Mondragone, La Republica daily reported.

Police say two assaulters fired at the five Bulgarians, who were at the villa in a region well known for the strong positions of the Camorra Mafia.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the shooting, but police suspects it to have settled scores among drug trafficking rivals.

An investigation into the case has been launched.

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has not yet confirmed the information.

The news of the shootout came as the General Directorate for Organized Crime Combat busted a cocaine trafficking ring from Bulgaria to Italy.

Interior Ministry sources say the cocaine trafficking networks in Bulgaria are handled by mobsters, linked to the Italian mafia, Darik News commented.


Bulgarian Gangland Brothers in Court Again

The Marinov brothers, believed to be among the bigwigs in Bulgaria's underworld, will enter court again on Monday. Photo by Kameliya Atanasova (Sofia Photo Agency)
Crime: 18 September 2006, Monday.

Sofia City Court will hold Monday the fourth hearing of the case of the notorious Marinov brothers, Krassimir and Nikolay, who have been charged with masterminding three murders.

The Marinov brothers, dubbed the Marguins, and several suspected accomplices have been accused of plotting the murder of businessman Nikola Damyanov, Lyubomir Gotsev, an officer working with the Security Services, and alleged underworld boss Ivan Todorov nicknamed Doktora.

The latter was murdered indeed, in a daylight shooting attack five months after the Marinov were seized.

The brothers were arrested in October 2005.

[Hollander]

Tycoon Iliya Pavlov "Masterminded Bulgaria's Ex-PM Murder"
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=70480

Killed Bulgarian Mobster Linked to Busted Cigarette Ring
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=70482

[Hollander]

Shady Businessman Accused of Contraband in Bulgaria


Crime: 4 October 2006, Wednesday.

Prosecutors in Bulgaria have raised charges against shady businessman Nikolay Metodiev, dubbed Pileto (the chicken), for the contraband of goods worth over USD 3.5 M.

Metodiev operated his dirty business in 2002 and 2003, the prosecution claims, and he had customs officers and truck driver to help him out.

Metodiev was first arrested in 2003 as Bulgarian policemen busted an illegal channel for imports of Chinese goods. Four customs officers also got under investigation in connection to the case. Metodiev is said to be an associate of another notorious businessman - Konstantin Dimitrov dubbed Samokovetsa - who was later shot dead in Amsterdam.

German Criminals Heading for Bulgaria

Politics: 4 October 2006, Wednesday.

In the course of Bulgaria's EU-accession and as boundaries fall German criminals may come to Bulgaria, Helmut Lisenfeld said for Darik News.

Lisenfeld, who represents the German Interior Ministry in the Rheinland-Pfalz province, believes that criminals recognize no limits. And since there are Bulgarian lawbreakers in Germany, their German "colleagues" might follow their example and move to the Balkan country.

Though there is some criminal activity in the province he represents, the German expert completely ruled out the possibility of an organised crime scheme there. He added that the German and Bulgarian Interior Ministries have vowed to join forces if they see signs of such activities. He also said that Bulgaria outran Romania and Iceland in terms of crime prevention.

Bulgaria is an attractive tourist destination, Lisenfeld added. If Germans were negatively disposed towards Bulgarians they would not go on vacations to Bulgaria, the German representative said.

Bulgarian and German policemen shared their experience during a seminar on Criminal and Communal Prevention that was held in the northern Black Sea resort of Albena.

[Hollander]

Masked Men Kill Dealing Bulgarian Car Thief in Sofia


Police are still gathering evidence at the scene some 10 hours after the murder of the notorious car thief. Photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia Photo Agency)
| buy photo |
Top news: 8 October 2006, Sunday.

A notorious Bulgarian car thief and drug dealer has been shot to death late Saturday night in Sofia, Darik News revealed.

Nikolay Ivanov, dubbed Bobyra (the Beaver) was shot by two masked individuals fifteen minutes before midnight in the Amedic bar in the capital's Gotse Delchev District.

Two more men - Nikolay Apostolov and Tony Dimitrov have also been hurt in the shooting and both sustained multiple gun wounds,

Ivanov has been shot at least nine times, while Apostolov received three bullets, and Dimitrov suffered one gunshot to the chest.

Police still have the area sealed and are looking for the two masked men.

This is the same area where Customs Agency head Shinka Manova was killed about a year ago.

Ivanov a known car thief and is often pointed out as the major drug kingpin in three big Sofia districts. He dealt marijuana and ecstasy in many elite Sofia bars and discos.

Police believe that the murdered man was in fierce competition with another notorious drug kingpin - Rasho. When the bomb was blasted in front of his house, authorities suspected that it might have been the work of Zlatomir Ivanov, aka Baretata, who is currently on trial for blackmailing a foreign businessman.

[Hollander]

Killed Bulgarian Mobster Survived 2 Bomb Attacks


Crime: 8 October 2006, Sunday.

The drug kingpin, who was shot to death with nine bullets in Sofia Saturday night, had survived two previous attempts on his life, Darik News reminds.

In January of 2204, a blast shook the armoured door of Nikolay Ivanov's apartment, but no one was injured.

Later, a bomb placed on top of a motorcycle went off, injuring six people. The motorcycle was parked near a Mitsubishi SUV that was at the time surrounded by Ivanov's bodyguards.

Ivanov, dubbed Bobyra (the Beaver), was killed in a Sofia bar fifteen minutes before midnight. Two of his friends were also shot and one of them is in critical condition.

Police are still looking for the suspects, two masked men, who entered the bar brandishing a pistol and a machine gun, according to reports.

[Hollander]

Ražnatović murder verdict
9 October 2006 | 12:58 | Source: Beta
BELGRADE -- The three individuals accused of the murder of Željko Ražnatović were found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The trial chamber of the Belgrade District Court, headed by Milenko Cvijović, convicted Dobrosav Gavrić, Milan Đuričić and Dragan Nikolić and sentenced each of them to 30 years in prison. The other three indictees who were convicted of aiding and abetting where sentenced to 30 years total.

Gavrić and Đuričić did not attend the reading of the verdict and the presiding judge already announced that a warrant would be issued for the two convicts.

Ražnatović’s sister Jasna Diklić said that she is content with the verdict and that she hopes that the authorities will find out one day who was responsible for hiring and ordering the killers, and what security service was behind the murder.

“If Arkan was alive on October 5, he would have been with the people, whether he had to be taken care of because of this, will be uncovered sooner or later.” Diklić said.

[Hollander]

Eight convicted over Arkan murder
A court in Serbia has convicted eight men of the murder of the Serb paramilitary commander known as Arkan.
Arkan, whose real name was Zelko Raznatovic, was shot dead in 2000. He had been indicted by the UN for atrocities during the Balkan wars.

Three men were sentenced to 30 years in prison, but arrest warrants have been issued for two of them who failed to appear in court.

Five men were convicted as accomplices and given lesser sentences.

Dobrosav Gavric, Milan Djuricic and Dragan Nikolic were found guilty of killing Arkan and two of his friends six years ago.

Arrest warrants were issued for Mr Gavric and Mr Djuricic who were absent from the hearing.

Gunned down

The other five were given sentences ranging from three to nine years for being accomplices.

Arkan was the leader of the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary force known as the Tigers and was also a powerful figure in Serbia's criminal underworld.

He became one of the best-known figures of the Balkan wars which tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

A former bank robber and hit man for the Yugoslav government, he set up the Tigers at the start of the conflict in 1990.

He was gunned down in the lobby of Belgrade's Intercontinental Hotel 10 years later, allegedly a victim of Belgrade's gangland warfare or of Serbian state security.

[Hollander]

EP Document: Romania Led by Oligarchy


On EU Doorstep: 10 October 2006, Tuesday.

A document that would have had to be distributed Monday 9 October to the participants to the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Romania pictures a sad situation of the country, EUexpands reported.

The document entitled "Update - note on Romania's preparations for EU accession" describes the current political tensions between the members of the governmental coalition.

But the text was withdrawn just before the beginning of the meeting, Monday in Brussels.

The document, which presents the Liberal Party and member of the coalition as "oligarchic", was prepared by the directorate general for external policies of the EU Parliament and is based on different press reports and other sources.

"An oligarchy composed of businessmen active in politics - either directly or through compliant allies - fears however that EU efforts to improve standards in public life will alter the rather lax climate that has enabled them to grow very rich", the text reads.

"Many independent media are also falling into the hands of the oligarchy. Campaigns have been launched against reformers, accused of links with the pre-1989 secret police, the Securitate", the text also informs.

The document also claims that Romania would have trouble fulfilling commitments made to the EU.

"If anti-reform forces remain indeed in the ascendancy, they could block further reforms that the EU will insist on, if Romania joins in January 2007"... "If the oligarchy is strong enough to keep a divided government in office, then Romania may not be able to prepare well for the shock of EU membership".

The leader of the EU delegation to the Joint Parliamentary committee Guido Podesta apologized for the drawn up of such document that he qualified as " not requested".

Sources from the EU Parliament told EUexpands that prior to the meeting, a civil servant of the institution was asked to make a technical document about Romania and he came up with this description.

The document was withdrawn from the meeting but it was distributed to the media at the end of last week, as part of the files for the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-Romania.

[Nav]

Bulgarian sex slave gang smashed
Tuesday, 17 October 2006

Police in Spain's Canary Islands have broken up a human trafficking gang which forced Eastern European women into prostitution.

Spanish police arrested 33 people, including 15 Bulgarians, authorities in Spain and Bulgaria said.

The gang had smuggled up to 500 women, mostly from Bulgaria, promising them waitressing jobs in luxury locations.

The arrests followed a two-year investigation launched after two trafficked women tipped off police.

Bulgarian police chief Valentin Petrov named the suspected ringleader as Kiril Djalev, alias Kiko, 35, from a small town in southern Bulgaria.

"Young and beautiful girls in difficult financial circumstances were lured with promises of honest, legal and well-paid jobs on the Canary Islands," the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said.

"Some of the women had an idea about what the job could entail, but not to its full extent - an absolute limitation of freedom and sexual slavery to enrich their bosses," it added.

Internet lure

"The jobs were advertised on the internet," Mr Petrov said.

The traffickers transported the women to the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, where they took away their passports and forced them to work as prostitutes in bars and clubs, often subjecting them to violence, police said.

Some of the women were forced to work as sex slaves in the ringleader's own luxury villa and on his yacht, Bulgarian media report.

The operation against the trafficking gang was conducted jointly by Spanish and Bulgarian police, Mr Petrov said.

In May, Bulgarian police participated in an Italian-led crackdown on child trafficking in Europe.

Organised crime in Bulgaria has raised concerns in the EU, which the country is set to join on 1 January 2007.