STA, 21 July 2022 - The Ljubljana District Court has found eight people guilty of drug trafficking and related criminal acts and sentenced them to a total of 28 years in prison. The ruling is not yet final, and the sentencing of the alleged leader of the ring has been postponed to autumn due to illness.

Jure Močnik, Branko Šćulija, Samir Velić, Anis Ličina, Jure Slaviček, Luka Korošec Lazić, Svetlan Stjepić and Jernej Kotnik were found guilty of unlawful manufacture and trade of narcotic drugs, illicit substances in sport and precursors to manufacture narcotic drugs as the court declared the ruling on Wednesday.

Stjepić and Šćulija received the highest sentences - seven and a half years in prison each, and a fine of EUR 10,000.

Ličina and Kotnik were sentenced to three years and a half years in prison each, with the former being also slapped with a EUR 7,000 fine, and the latter with a EUR 6,000 fine.

Slaviček and Močnik were sentenced to two and a half years in prison and got a EUR 5,000 fine each, while Korošec Lazić was sentenced to year and a half in prison and will have to pay a EUR 2,000 fine.

The panel of judges, chaired by Srečko Škerbec, found that it was a typical, hierarchically organised criminal ring that carefully checked undercover police officers, including the addresses of their residences, and photographed their documents.

In agreement with the undercover police officers, they planned to transport 30 kilos of cocaine from Ecuador to the Slovenian port of Koper and the Croatian port of Rijeka, but the scheme had not been fully implemented.

Ring members have been found guilty of trading in heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, hashish and amphetamines from September 2017 to January 2020 in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, to earn at least EUR 1.3 million.

A total of 33 people had been initially charged, and the trial has ended for 13 people, who did not immediately plead guilty. Five people have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The trial took place without the chief defendant, Aleš Zupančič, who fell ill a few weeks ago. His lawyer was expected to deliver closing arguments yesterday, but she had also fallen ill, so this part of the trial was postponed to the autumn.

STA, 4 November 2021 - Half a year after a police sting that busted the Slovenian cell of the notorious Montenegrin crime syndicate known as the Kavač Clan, the prosecution has filed an indictment against 24 out of 64 suspects, the newspaper Večer reported on Thursday.

According to Večer, the indictment filed by the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office does not include two members who cooperated with the authorities , who have contributed greatly to the arrests of the suspects by providing useful information.

An individual under the nickname "Darko N." is to appear as the crown witness, and his identity will remain concealed as he has the status of a protected witness, as has the other repentant individual.

The police have not managed to establish the identity of certain persons involved in the drug trafficking ring, and only their nicknames are known. Some of the suspects are on the run, and some of them are already in prison in other countries.

According to Večer, a third individual, who has reportedly been labelled as an unreliable witness, is among the indicted. The investigating judge has decided not to grant him the status of a protected witness.

The 490-page indictment filed to the Ljubljana District Court by Jože Levašič of the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office presents allegations of drug trafficking.

Trafficking in firearms is not mentioned, as the court has not allowed the investigation to be expanded to this segment, Večer said.

In the indictment, which described in detail the alleged acts committed by the criminal ring, sentences for the suspects are also proposed. A prison sentence of twelve years and a half is proposed for the ringleader Klemen Kadivec.

According to the police and the prosecution, the Slovenian chapter of the Montenegrin crime syndicate operated since 2018, and had strong connections in Spain, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Italy, the Netherlands and Croatia.

STA, 3 June 2021 - The Novo Mesto criminal police have apprehended a number of members of a drug trafficking organisation in cooperation with other police departments, seizing a large haul of illegal drugs worth millions of euros. The Slovenian police had been tipped off by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

The police arrested 17 members, aged between 30 and 53, for drug trafficking and money laundering in mid-May.

France Božičnik, the head of the Novo Mesto criminal police, told today's online press conference that in early 2018 the DEA notified the Slovenian police it had been made aware of illegal activity perpetrated by individuals from Slovenia.

The individuals had been discussing the procurement of a large amount of cocaine in the Dominican Republic. The Slovenian police and their foreign colleagues uncovered that the Slovenians were part of a criminal organisation.

On 18 May this year, 18 house raids were conducted in Ljubljana, Nova Gorica and Celje, leading to a seizure of almost 80 kilos of various drugs, including cocaine, heroin and amphetamine, that were supposed to be distributed in Slovenia.

The police also found equipment for mixing, compressing and packing drugs. The analysis of the seized haul is ongoing, but according to an initial estimate the drugs are valued at millions of euros.

Nine of the 17 detained members have been taken into judicial custody. All of them are Slovenian citizens.

Seven individuals were also charged with money laundering after the police established that they had been part of an international money laundering network that was active in Italy, Germany, Serbia and Slovenia.

The criminal organisation of 17 Slovenians was allegedly run by a 36-year-old Ljubljana citizen, who was also in charge of drug procurement. Most of the suspects are familiar faces to the police.

At the start of the Covid-19 epidemic the police detected disruption in the drug supply networks, however drug trafficking organisations were quick to adapt and the epidemic has not had any significant impact on them, said Uroš Lavrič of the General Police Administration.

Slovenia saw an almost 78% increase in detected drug-related organised crime so far this year compared to the same period last year. Taking into account drug-related offences that were not committed as part of organised crime, the figure stands at 24%.

STA, 19 April 2021- Celje police have indicted 15 suspects over 49 counts related to drug trafficking, transport of illegal migrants, classified information leaking and bribery, Celje Criminal Police chief Damijan Turk told the press on Monday.

The police completed a large investigation of drug trafficking, which started in mid-2020, conducting 16 house searches and arresting 12 suspects last week.

Seven suspects were brought before an investigating magistrate on Friday, with six remanded in custody.

The drug ring based in the broader area of Celje featured several citizens of Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia, who purchased, stored and sold cocaine and cannabis across the country.

Its individual members also organised transport of illegal migrants from Croatia via Slovenia to Italy.

"In two cases, police pulled over individual members of the ring with 58 migrants and two drivers while they were en route to Italy," said Turk.

"In another two cases, the ring managed to successfully take illegal migrants across the border from Slovenia to Italy."

During the investigation, the police realised the ring had some sensitive information, only to discover that they had received them from a Celje District Court employee.

The stenographer, working for the criminal department since 2018, provided the ring information such as what activities police would conduct or where, for personal gain.

The suspect has disclosed at least 100 sensitive documents, as a result of which a large number of investigations were less successful than they could have been.

If found guilty, he could go to jail for up to eight years, Turk said in a statement to the press.

The Celje District Court said the stenographer was no longer employed at the court, and no longer has access to the court's premises or data bases.

It explained that the suspect had had access to the sensitive data as part of his job.

The 15 suspects have been indicted for 38 counts related to drug production or trafficking, six to leaking classified information, one to giving a bribe, and four to illegal crossing of the border.

The suspects are aged from 22 to 50, with the oldest among them having had run-ins with the police before.

STA, 16 April 2021 - Criminal police officers from Murska Sobota, north-east, have concluded an investigation resulting in the arrest of four persons suspected of drug trafficking on the dark web and seizure of 400 kilos of illicit substances in what is one of the largest drug busts in Slovenia ever.

The investigation concluded on Tuesday with house searches at three locations, two in the Maribor area and one in the Ljubljana area, and involving the four suspects aged from 28 to 43, the police said on its website on Friday.

The suspects, who are believed to have gained at least EUR 3 million with the scheme, were brought before an investigating judge on Thursday and then detained. The four have no previous criminal record related to drug trafficking.

The 15-month investigation included covert measures and cooperation with the police from Germany, Austria and Estonia. Five kilos of various illicit drugs and more than 4,500 ecstasy pills were also seized abroad in the process.

The suspected criminals had a well organised network all around the world for drug trafficking that took place exclusively in marketplaces on the dark web. Payments were made exclusively in cryptocurrencies.

The police has assessed the bust as a large step forward as it was the first time for criminal police officers from the north-eastern region of Pomurje to encounter large-scale drug trafficking on the dark web.

Transactions were not made in person so there weas no physical contact between the buyer and seller, making the investigation much more difficult.

The leader of the gang sold and marketed a variety of illicit drugs in various quantities, and he had a price list. He communicated with the buyers, prepared packages and took care of the supply of ingredients for amphetamine.

The remaining members were sending packages to the buyers almost exclusively by mail. In some cases, they even delivered illicit drugs personally, mostly in Austria.

The perpetrators concealed their activity in various ways, including by carefully picking the packaging in which the shipments were sent. They for instance used containers for food supplements and made it look as if it was original packaging.

Cocaine was sold at EUR 40,000 a kilo, heroin at EUR 9,000 a kilo, methamphetamine at EUR 16,000 a kilo, amphetamine base at EUR 1,300 a kilo, while the price of an ecstasy pill ranged from one to two euros, depending on the quantity.

According to the police, the delivered drugs were of excellent quality and purity, enabling the buyers to cut them for further sale.

The investigation of the dark web profile of the gang leader showed that he had sold more than EUR 600,000 in drugs on only one marketplace between April 2018 and July 2020. The suspects also sold drugs on other dark web marketplaces.

STA, 20 February 2020 - Following reports that North Macedonian police have discovered one kilo of cocaine in a Derby banana shipment, the brand's owner, Slovenian company Rastoder said it was the target of a criminal cartel.

According to Balkan media reports, the shipment, packed in Derby boxes, arrived from South America and was destined for Italy, via Balkan countries.

The bananas arrived from South America to Montenegro on a ship, after which part of the shipment was transported via Albania and North Macedonia. The drugs hidden among the bananas were allegedly destined to be sold in North Macedonia.

Macedonian police said that the bust dismantled an important smuggling route by which about 1.3 tonnes of cocaine had been smuggled to western Europe.

Rastoder issued a statement saying that the suspects apprehended were not linked to the company. It added that accessible data showed Rastoder was not subject of police investigation.

The company said that criminal rings were obviously abusing supply channels from South America for their criminal activity.

The company believes that this is a case of systemic abuse, noting that the North Macedonia shipment had passed all security checks, most recently at the Bar port in Montenegro.

Such supply channel abuse is not rare neither in South America nor Europe; more than to tonnes of illegal substances have been seized in Denmark, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bulgaria and North Macedonia in 2020 alone.

Rastoder said that it had suspended its cooperation with the banana supplier as a precaution measure as soon as the shipment containing cocaine was discovered in North Macedonia.

All our stories on drug trafficking in Slovenia are here

STA, 31 January 2020 - The Croatian police have caught a couple of marijuana smugglers from Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina near the border with Slovenia. The pair was transporting almost 500 kilos of marijuana, estimated at between EUR 675,000 and EUR 945,000.

 The 41-year-old Slovenian and 29-year-old citizen of Bosnia-Herzegovina were apprehended on Thursday in Croatia's Radakovo near Brežice in eastern Slovenia, the Croatian Interior Ministry announced on Friday.

The alleged smugglers were transporting 481 kilos of marijuana. They had procured the supplies together, but it is still unclear how they managed to get such a large quantity of the drug.

The pair have been charged with drug trafficking and put in detention.

All our stories on drug trafficking in Slovenia are here

A police investigation took place yesterday morning at one of the Derby warehouses of the "banana king", real estate developer and more recently Adria Airways’ flying permit owner, Izet Rastoder.

According to the surprised bystanders, at about 10 o'clock members of the special police unit arrived. The entrance was guarded by police officers who did not let anyone into the warehouse.

In a press release later in the day the Rastoder Company stated that some employees started unloading the container in the early morning hours and noticed irregularities in some boxes. They were filled with packages of stationery paper and not just bananas. They informed customs authorities about the finding, and a few minutes later an armed police unit entered the warehouse, forced everyone to lie on the ground and some phones were taken away.

Izet Rastoder, who is currently in Dubai, initially told reporters from Dnevnik in a phone conversation that he knew nothing about the event. Later he told Dnevnik that he had learned from his employees that a container of bananas from Colombia had arrived at the warehouse with a one week delay, because it got stuck on its stop in Italy. When the container was opened the employees noticed there was more than simply bananas inside, with paper as well. The employees, in line with the procedural rules, called the customs office and the police.

However, in its press release the police have a slightly different story to tell. Drago Menegalija, a spokesman of the criminal investigators, said that their investigative activities at the address of Letališka street in Ljubljana were the result of a criminal investigation conducted by the National Investigation Bureau for some time, and were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the state prosecutor's office. The investigators carried out urgent investigative actions based on the prosecutors and court orders in connection with the suspicion of committing the criminal offense of illicit production and trafficking in narcotics. Yesterday’s proceedings were therefore not the result of calls by citizens to the emergency number 113, but of something deeper and more organised.

However, the police refused to confirm or deny whether the banana storage house action was part of the two-year investigation into drug-related organised crime, which concluded a few days ago.

STA, 30 January 2020 - The police investigation that led to the dismantling of a well-organised international drug ring earlier this week uncovered the biggest synthetic drugs lab ever found in Slovenia, police representatives told the press on Thursday, as they talked about the investigation in more detail and updated earlier information.

This is the first time that a "wholesale" drugs lab was found operating in Slovenia, Criminal Police Administration director Boštjan Lindav said, adding that this in itself is a landmark.

The police seized 125 kilos of amphetamines and enough precursors to make another 300 kilos of amphetamines in nearly 50 house searches featuring nearly 500 officers Tuesday morning. Equipment to make and package drugs was also seized, as were firearms.

The investigation leading up to the Tuesday bust lasted 28 months, which Lindav said was normal for an investigation of such complexity.

The police believe that a 38-year-old Slovenian citizen from Kamnik was the head of the drug cartel. In the course of the investigation, the police secured evidence of at least 61 crimes perpetrated by 45 members of the ring, said Ljubljana criminal police chief Damjan Petrič.

Apart from the amphetamines and precursors, the police seized 4.7 kilos of cocaine, 9.6 kilos of heroin, 28.3 kilos of marijuana, a kilo of hashish and 6,300 ecstasy pills on Tuesday. More than EUR 240,000 in cash was also seized.

Petrič said that the price of drugs depended on purity, quantity, place of delivery, frequency of purchase by individual buyers and previous cooperation with them. The price of cocaine, for example, varied from EUR 4,000 to EUR 21,000 a kilo.

The members of the ring made a total of about EUR 1.3 million in illegal gains during the course of the investigation.

A courier made EUR 41,000 for transporting nearly 17 kilos of drugs in this period, whereas the person in charge of the network of couriers and dealers made EUR 140,000, Petrič illustrated.

The Ljubljana District Prosecution filed requests for investigation against 46 suspects, whereas 18 people who were arrested on Tuesday have already been brought to an investigative judge. Six suspects were also arrested in Croatia.

Lindav said that the ring was very well organised, and that its members were very careful and confident, as they had not been deterred from drug trafficking despite their earlier drug-related sentences and the fact that one of them was in prison at the time.

STA, 29 January - Slovenian police have busted an international drug ring in cooperation with police forces from Croatia and several other European countries, seizing 120 kilos of amphetamine and arresting 20 people in nearly 50 raids on Wednesday morning.

The ring supplied the Slovenian drug market as well as international markets, the General Police Administration said in a press release.

The group imported a variety of illegal drugs from abroad and produced vast quantities of amphetamine in Slovenia.

In the course of the investigation, the police collected evidence of at least 48 drug trafficking crimes committed by 45 members of the ring.

This morning, the police carried out 47 house searches in and around Ljubljana, Maribor and Celje, seizing tens of kilos of various illegal drugs, equipment to make and package drugs, precursors, marijuana growing equipment and illegal weapons and ammunition, as well as EUR 150,000 in proceeds from drug sales.

The investigation was steered by the Ljubljana District Prosecutor Office and led by the Ljubljana Criminal Police. It featured close cooperation with the Croatian police, as well as police forces from other European countries.

A total of 460 criminal investigators and police officers from across the country took part in today's sting. The majority of suspects will be charged and brought in front of an investigative judge today, the press release says.

Most of the suspects have been previously involved in drug trafficking crimes or thefts.