INDICTMENT ISSUED AGAINST SEVEN PERSONS ACCUSED OF ILLICIT INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING

The accused persons are charged with organized crime in conjunction with illicit international trafficking of the "cocaine" narcotic drug from EU countries to the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  

A prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued an Indictment against the following persons:

• MITJA KONTIČ, born in 1988 in Sloven Gradec, in the Republic of Slovenia, a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia, who is currently remanded in custody,
• ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIĆ, aka "Saša", born in 1991 in Sarajevo, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is currently remanded in custody,
• BORIS GRUJIĆ, born in 1981 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia,
• SLAVEN RADINKOVIĆ, born in 1997 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• JOVAN ŠUMAN, born in 1997 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• IGOR ZARIĆ, born in 1996 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, and
• DAMJAN TEPIĆ, born in 1993 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 
These accused persons are charged, as members of an organized crime group that operated in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Republic of Slovenia, to have acted together with clearly defined roles and tasks from August 2022 to April 2023, and on several occasions illegally transferred, hid and delivered larger quantities of the "cocaine" narcotic drug from abroad to Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the purpose of its further sale in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all in order to acquire unlawful material gain.

According to the allegations in the Indictment, the accused Mitja Kontič is charged with smuggling of one (1) kilogram of the "cocaine” narcotic drug, which he delivered to the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina hidden in the tank of a vehicle. The value of this narcotic drug reaches the amount of EUR 35,000 on the illegal market.
 
The said narcotic drug was seized in an operation codenamed "Market", which was carried out in February 2023 by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior. The seizure was conducted during the handover of the aforementioned narcotic drug in a rented apartment in the area of Banja Luka, on which occasion Šuman, Radinković, Zarić, Tepić and Grujić, all accused persons, were deprived of their liberty.
 
Furthermore, the accused Kontič is charged with taking over two (2) kilograms of the "cocaine" narcotic drug in Ljubljana, on 14 March this year, and then handing it over to Aleksandar Nikolić, in accordance with a prior agreement, and taking EUR 18,000 from him.
 
Both of them were deprived of their liberty in a coordinated action carried out by the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of the Interior and the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior, in the area of Sarajevo, and the above-specified amount of money was found during the search.
 
During the searches carried out at several locations, one (1) kilogram of the "cocaine" narcotic drug was found and seized, along with a large amount of money, a pistol, a large number of mobile phones, and two passenger cars that were used for perpetration of the aforementioned criminal offences, one of which has a built-in special bunker for illegal transportation of goods, the so-called ‘stash’, which was used for smuggling.
 
The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.