Suspected "Balkan drug lord" arrested

Suspected "Balkan drug lord" arrested

The arrestees are suspected of five crimes, ranging from inciting to crime to tax evasion, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović said at a press conference in the Palace of Serbia.

Four months of police work led to Kosmajac's arrest in his Belgrade home, Stefanović said.

All arrestees are Serbian nationals - four of them were arrested in Sremska Mitrovica, while the others were caught in Belgrade, Stefanovic said.

The investigation against Kosmajac and his group targeted his property of unknown origin and tax returns, which opens up possibilities to prove other crimes as well, Stefanović said.

The minister likened the case to "an FBI investigation and the subsequent arrest of Al Capone, whose downfall, too, was due to tax evasion."

"We worked very thoroughly and carefully to gather evidence that would be sufficient to have the property seized," said Stefanović, who thanked a police task force that has been working on the case since June 25, also thanking the Interpol member states for their cooperation.

Noting that this is only the first step, Stefanović said that the arrest of Kosmajac and his crime group is yet another proof that "no one is untouchable and that the state will confront all those who are breaking the law."

"This case was an open case 15 years ago, too, and it has now come to a conclusion in Serbia thanks to political will," the minister said.

Kosmajac and seven members of his crime group were arrested early Sunday on orders from the High Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade and placed in 48-hour detention.

Within the 48 hours, they will have to be questioned by the prosecutor and a preliminary proceedings judge, who will decide on their custody.

With Serbian lawyers on strike for the past two months, ex officio lawyers, who decided to work, have been appointed for Kosmajac and the members of his crime group.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has named Kosmajac - dubbed by media as the "Escobar of the Balkans" - "the biggest drug lord in the region."

The 2001 Interior Ministry White Paper listed Kosmajac as one of the major drug traders.

He "has ties with international drug smugglers in South America and long-established channels for trafficking cocaine from Turkey, Bulgaria and Macedonia to Western European countries via Montenegro and Serbia," Tanjug reported.