Close associate of suspected drug lord arrested

Republic of Srpska (RS) police have arrested Zoran Copic, described as the closest associate of runaway drug lord Darko Saric, as a part of Operation Machine. The arrest was made after several-month long operation led by Serbian and RS police. Close associate of suspected drug lord arrested Copic was hiding in the RS for quite some time, according to reports. He was questioned in Banja Luka several times under suspicion of preparing an assassination on Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic. His assets in the RS, worth more than 20mn Bosnian convertible marks (KM) have been temporarily frozen. His stocks in Bijeljina Sugar Factory, which is owned by his Agrocoop export-import company from Banja Luka, have also been blocked. Copic’s company Aviorent which owns a plane and which is estimated to be worth more than EUR 200,000 has been blocked as well. Police have discovered suspicious transactions and evidence that more than KM 14mn was laundered. According to Bosnian media, Copic acted as Saric’s middleman in a number of deals, mainly regarding purchase of real estate in Serbia. He was a member of board of directors in more than 150 Saric’s companies, including Novi Sad-based company Agrocoop which bought the Bijeljina Sugar Factory in late 2009. According to the announcements, all Copic’s bank accounts will be blocked today. Meanwhile, Darko Saric, suspected of masterminding an attempt to traffic nearly three tons of cocaine from South America, is still on the run.

Close associate of suspected drug lord arrested

Ćopić was hiding in the RS for quite some time, according to reports. He was questioned in Banja Luka several times under suspicion of preparing an assassination on Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić.

His assets in the RS, worth more than 20mn Bosnian convertible marks (KM) have been temporarily frozen. His stocks in Bijeljina Sugar Factory, which is owned by his Agrocoop export-import company from Banja Luka, have also been blocked. Ćopić’s company Aviorent which owns a plane and which is estimated to be worth more than EUR 200,000 has been blocked as well.

Police have discovered suspicious transactions and evidence that more than KM 14mn was laundered.

According to Bosnian media, Ćopić acted as Šarić’s middleman in a number of deals, mainly regarding purchase of real estate in Serbia.

He was a member of board of directors in more than 150 Šarić’s companies, including Novi Sad-based company Agrocoop which bought the Bijeljina Sugar Factory in late 2009.

According to the announcements, all Ćopić’s bank accounts will be blocked today.

Meanwhile, Darko Šarić, suspected of masterminding an attempt to traffic nearly three tons of cocaine from South America, is still on the run.