US Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick wrote that the Serbian government was worried that Montenegrin authorities were not doing enough to apprehend Darko Saric, indicted for leading a drug trafficking ring that made over a billion euros a year smuggling cocaine and other drugs from South America through the Balkans to Western Europe. Saric, who was born in Pljevlja, Montengro but holds Serbian citizenship, is allegedly tied to over 2 tons of cocaine that were apprehended off of the coast of Uruguay in October 2009 as part of Operation Balkan Warrior.
In the cable, dated February 24, 2010, Warlick detailed accusations that senior officials from the Serbian Interior Ministry are linked to Saric, but said she trusts that the Serbian government is committed to fighting organized crime.
Warlick outlined a series of accusations and allegations between Serbia and Montenegro. When Montenegro arrested two of Saric’s associates, Goran Sokovic and Dejan Sekulovac, both Montenegrin citizens, Serbia was irate because the associates were subsequently released. Montenegro said they were let go because Serbia failed to provide proper evidence against them.
The ambassador said trust between police officers in Montenegro and Serbia was low. She described a February 23 meeting with Tadic’s National Security Advisor, Miki Rakic, “who indicated Serbia was reluctant to share information with Montenegro at this early stage of the case due to concern that doing so might cut off current GOS investigation efforts.” Rakic told her that three key suspects in the case had been released by the Montenegrin police despite notices from Argentina, Serbia and Denmark.
She also said that the work of the case was made more difficult because of “strained relations” over Montenegro’s recognition of Kosovo.
In the cable, Warlick addresses allegations that Branko Lazarevic, Dacic’s Chief of Cabinet, had ties to Saric because his brother-in-law Nikola Dmitrijevic owned a company and had two Saric associates on the managing board. She said members of the press were speculating that he tipped off Saric about Operation Balkan Warrior, an international drug smuggling investigation targeting Saric and 18 other organized crime personalities.
However, the ambassador wrote that “conflicts within the Ministry of Interior, where the old
guard resents and distrusts Dacic and his inner circle of advisors, at times impede work and give rise to suspicions that allegations such as those against Lazarevic are motivated by personal animus.”
Moreover, Dacic, she said, is too concerned with preserving his “hard-won reputation as an effective Interior Minister” and will thoroughly investigate all allegations against Lazarevic in order to “preserve his credibility.”
