Prosecutor's Office of BiH Cooperates in Fight Against Organized Crime in the Region

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is cooperating with the judicial authorities of neighboring countries in the fight against organized crime, the institution told the BiH news agency Patria (NAP), in response to a question about whether contact has been established with the Serbian judiciary following the arrest of drug lord Darko Šarić. However, the Prosecutor's Office stated that they cannot comment on specific cases.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH cooperates with all law enforcement agencies in BiH and the region in detecting and prosecuting perpetrators of criminal offenses. But, regarding the specific inquiry, we cannot provide any comment – said Boris Grubešić, spokesperson for the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, for the news agency Patria.

At his first appearance at the Special Court in Belgrade, the biggest Balkan drug lord Darko Šarić said that he does not feel guilty on any indictment, nor on any count.

Otherwise, it is known that Šarić had close associates in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, and according to unofficial information, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH will provide the Serbian authorities with all relevant findings related to Šarić's criminal activities in our country.

As is known, the involvement of BiH judiciary in the Šarić case could be, according to available information, very likely. Especially since a large number of criminal offenses committed by Šarić and his mafia octopus were also committed on the territory of BiH.
Šarić also had an extensive network of associates in the illegal drug trade in our country, and it has never been fully clarified who this Serbian drug lord had connections with in criminal-political structures. What is known is that Šarić had a multi-year cooperation with the suspected Albanian drug lord Naser Keljmendi and with the dealer structures connected to him. Keljmendi was previously arrested in Kosovo, after fleeing from BiH, where he was available to the judiciary for years but was not prosecuted. Šarić's tentacles extended mostly to Republika Srpska and the criminal gangs there, as well as to Turković's group. This was also discussed during the trial of Zijad Turković and his accomplices.

Investigators who have been working on the fight against organized crime in BiH for a long time point out for NAP that if it is confirmed that Šarić had high political officials on his payroll in Serbia, then it is certain that his satellites in BiH also have such lists of people, but that the BiH judiciary clearly still does not have the capacity to take action like Serbia did.

Šarić had connections with Zoran Ćopić, the former majority owner of the sugar factory in Bijeljina, whose activities were classified as organized crime. Ćopić was finally sentenced to four years in prison, and it is alleged that he actually privatized the Bijeljina sugar factory with dirty money from Šarić.

Recently, FTV reported that Šarić's associate was also Bogoljub Radović, known as Boća, from Čajniče, who at the end of 2011 handed over money from the sale of a motel in Sarajevo to Šarić's sister Danijela, which was bought with money from drug sales.

FTV states that the Pljevaljčić brothers from Čajniče, who are close relatives of the Šarićs, also participated in these activities, and that a certain Darko Marić, also from Čajniče, was involved in these affairs, as well as that Vlado Mačar, originally from BiH, who managed their property in Serbia, was part of the Šarić brothers' criminal group. Of all of Šarić's associates in BiH, only Zoran Ćopić, the majority owner of the Sugar Factory in Bijeljina, has been convicted.