Report: Serbia major Balkan drug smuggling point

Report: Serbia major Balkan drug smuggling point

The U.S. State Department in its annual report on smuggling narcotics said a fight against drug trafficking in Serbia will be a long process, the Serbian news agency Beta reported from Washington Monday.

Organized crime groups use Serbia for transferring heroin, cocaine, marijuana and synthetic drugs and only a small part of these narcotics remain in Serbia for domestic use, the report said.

The U.S. report said the ability of organized crime to take advantage of porous borders is endangering Serbia's political stability and its economic development.

The Belgrade government is trying to contain corruption and the U.S. administration will continue to cooperate with Serbia in improving its legal system in fighting corruption and organized crime, Beta said.

Jelašić: Government Will Probe State Department Reports

Serbian National Bank governor Radovan Jelašić said competent financial institutions would probe into reports by the US State Department about alleged laundering of money from Serbia in Cyprus.

An annual State Department reports states that more USD 1 bn were transferred from Serbia to Cyprus in 2005. Jelašić told the press in Leskovac that the Anti-Laundering Agency, Foreign Currency Inspectorate and the Tax Administration would check out the information disclosed in the report.