Elez and gang had Montenegrin ties

The group that hired gangster Darko Elez and his men to commit murders in Serbia is one of Montenegro's "strongest mafias". This is according to Saturday's article in Belgrade daily Blic, which quotes its source "high up in MUP [Serbian police] hierarchy". Elez and gang had Montenegrin ties Several MUP special police raids in Belgrade, coordinated with police operations in Bosnia, netted over two dozen suspects earlier this week. They included Elez, who is believed to be the leader of the gang active in the region. The activities of the members of the crime group indicate that they were preparing liquidations in Belgrade, and that "someone from the ranks of the Serb political and state officials was to have been targeted", the newspaper cited its police source, who also said that "in the interest of the investigation", they could not present other details. But the source explained that in the past months, "big changes occurred in the underground" – influenced mostly by arrests of gang bosses and their chief executioners, including Sreten Jocic, Slobodan Djurovic aka Kardinal, and Zeljko Milovanovic. Those mentioned are now in Serbian and Croatian prisons, suspected of involvement in the murder of Croatian publisher Ivo Pukanic in Zagreb last fall. However, at the same time, several "big-time criminals" have been released from prison abroad, and continued their "business" in the country. All this, the MUP source concluded, has led to takeovers of "jobs", gang showdowns, but also to threats the criminals direct at the police and security services.

Elez and gang had Montenegrin ties

Several MUP special police raids in Belgrade, coordinated with police operations in Bosnia, netted over two dozen suspects earlier this week. They included Elez, who is believed to be the leader of the gang active in the region.

The activities of the members of the crime group indicate that they were preparing liquidations in Belgrade, and that "someone from the ranks of the Serb political and state officials was to have been targeted", the newspaper cited its police source, who also said that "in the interest of the investigation", they could not present other details.

But the source explained that in the past months, "big changes occurred in the underground" – influenced mostly by arrests of gang bosses and their chief executioners, including Sreten Jocić, Slobodan Đurović aka Kardinal, and Željko Milovanović.

Those mentioned are now in Serbian and Croatian prisons, suspected of involvement in the murder of Croatian publisher Ivo Pukanić in Zagreb last fall.

However, at the same time, several "big-time criminals" have been released from prison abroad, and continued their "business" in the country.

All this, the MUP source concluded, has led to takeovers of "jobs", gang showdowns, but also to threats the criminals direct at the police and security services.