Due to suspicion of receiving money from drug cartels: BiH Prosecutor's Office orders SIPA to investigate financing of the People and Justice party

The BiH Prosecutor's Office has ordered the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) to investigate the financing of the People and Justice (NiP) political party as part of the investigation in the Black Tie case, Istraga has learned. The order was issued due to suspicions that NiP was financed with money belonging to the Tito and Dino drug cartel, led by drug boss Edin Gačanin Tito. Documentation on NiP was also requested from the Central Election Commission of BiH.

According to Sky correspondence, members of the drug cartel led by Edin Gačanin Tito often communicated about the financing of NiP in BiH.

Thus, on September 14, 2020, on the eve of the Local Elections, drug boss Edin Gačanin informed his cartel members via the Sky application about political connections, claiming: "We have good connections in NiP, directly to Konaković".

Gačanin further writes that they have connections to NiP "through our brother and to the man who finances him".

Fifteen days later, towards the end of the election campaign (September 29, 2020), Edin Gačanin commented on the political and overall situation in BiH. He wrote on Sky that "SDA is losing strength" and is "finished", and that "Čampara is moving to NiP, and if he leaves, then Zvizdić and 'efendija' will too".

That Tito was well-informed about personnel changes in NiP was shown five months later. Aljoša Čampara joined NiP in February 2021. Denis Zvizdić joined NiP in November 2021, a year after Tito wrote in Sky messages that Čampara and Zvizdić would move to NiP.

Edin Gačanin Tito mentioned the leader of NiP, Elmedin Konaković, several times in his correspondence. On February 28, 2020, around 10:22 PM, Gačanin wrote that they have a way to get money, but they need power to be accepted and respected, not just what they can do with Konaković, but because they will have media, TV programs.

"He is important to us," drug boss Edin Gačanin Tito wrote ten minutes before midnight on February 11, 2020, on the Sky application.

"SDA is at its end. Kona realized that. But he showed his hand too early. If he had just waited a little. Kona would have had more power. Too quickly. Impatient. Bosniak. That's a mistake. If only he had waited a little. Yes, he is important to us. If he agrees, it will be a big step for us. I will sit down with him personally," wrote Edin Gačanin Tito.

We remind you that EUROPOL, in a scheme whose authenticity was confirmed by Minister Elmedin Konaković himself, stated that the leader of NIP met with Edin Gačanin Tito in March 2021. Mahir Hodžić, also a NiP official from Novi Grad, traveled with Konaković and his wife Dalija in March 2021. Hodžić's name is also in the EUROPOL scheme, which precisely states that he "traveled together" to Dubai with Konaković.

According to Istraga's information, Edin Gačanin Tito and his associate Dženis Kadrić discussed in Sky communication the necessity of founding a party because they "cannot cooperate seriously" with SDA and Izetbegović. Later, Elmedin Konaković is mentioned in the communication, whom Tito and others reached through businessman Gordan Memija. After that, EUROPOL registered Elmedin Konaković's trip to Dubai. The trip was organized by Edin Gačanin Tito's closest associates, which was documented in Sky correspondence.

Here's what Edin Gačanin wrote in the Sky application on April 21, 2020, at 8:06:53 PM: "We can also find Konaković, Memos is his best man, or vice versa".

Besides through Memos, the cartel also had connections with Konaković through Mahir Hodžić, or rather his son-in-law, Dženis Kadrić's brother. Dženis Kadrić is an officially suspected member of Edin Gačanin Tito's drug cartel. He was among the special forces who accompanied Tito in 2016. Later, he also moved to Dubai, where he guarded the cartel leader.

"I cannot claim that Dženis Kadrić is a member of the drug cartel," Elmedin Konaković said in an interview for klix.ba.

The BiH Court has established reasonable suspicion that Kadrić is a member of Edin Gačanin's drug cartel. Passports numbers of Elmedin Konaković, Dalija Konaković, and their daughter were found on his Sky phone.

"Basically, the president wants to and there are no problems. Alone or with diplomacy, no problem," read a Sky message received by Dženis Kadrić, drug boss Edin Gačanin Tito's right-hand man, on December 23, 2020.

This was one of a series of messages Kadrić received between 10:07 PM and 10:10 PM.

"My father-in-law says," read the previous message sent to Dženis Kadrić, "that the two of them are going with their wives".

"And regarding what you mentioned," continues Dženis's interlocutor, "let the president decide if he is needed or not".

This is the correspondence that all police agencies in BiH possess. Dženis Kadrić, as we said, was Edin Gačanin Tito's escort for years. His interlocutor, investigators suspect, is his brother. The father-in-law is Mahir Hodžić. And the president – Elmedin Konaković.

Therefore, Dženis Kadrić's brother, who is family-connected to Mahir Hodžić, a People and Justice official in Novi Grad, sends a message to Tito's escort saying – "the president wants to".

So, it was December 2020, and this is the correspondence that EUROPOL provided to BiH police agencies. Dženis Kadrić used Sky under the name "Wolverine Elite Comando", number 3I5389. Here is the key part.

"It can also be private, that's best. But when they see who they are sitting with, what their function is, who they are, where they are. So he knows who to bring with him. My father-in-law says the best option is for the two of them to go with their wives. Now, if something important is being done, and they will know when they see who they are sitting with, then if people need to be brought along, that's not a problem. Basically, the president wants to, and there are no problems. Alone or with diplomacy, no problem. And regarding what you mentioned, let the president decide if he is needed or not," read the messages found on Dženis Kadrić's Sky phone.

Less than two months later, specifically on February 14, 2021, Kadrić sent a note with the passport numbers of Elmedin Konaković, his daughter K.A.K., Dalija Hasanbegović-Konaković, Nijaza Hodžić, and Mahir Hodžić written on it.

"I had information that a group of Bosnians and Herzegovinians are in direct contact with the government of Abu Dhabi and that they want to invite me for an official visit. When they invite me for a visit, I will come, they haven't invited me yet. It's great that we are dealing with a topic these days that I have answered several times, rather than dealing with the essence of the problem related to the cartel that exists and operates in BiH and which protects criminals in this way. A narrative is being created in which I am being talked about, but we will find out very soon. If you travel to Dubai, you cannot exchange money at an exchange office without a passport. If at that moment someone had told me that they had contact with the Austrian government and wanted to invite me, I would have given it immediately. A passport is an identification document, I would gladly give my passport and ID card then. This is standard practice and I see no enigma in it," Konaković said, justifying himself, traditionally, on N1 television.

But if it was supposed to be an official visit, why were Konaković's wife and their child on the passenger list? Why was Mahir Hodžić, who holds no official position, on the list? Why was Mahir's wife, Nijaza Hodžić, who has been importing "textiles" from Dubai for years, on the list?