Police reportedly unsure if cocaine was destined for Albania

Police reportedly unsure if cocaine was destined for Albania

Last week, customs officers in the port of Bar in Montenegro found 250 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas, and according to sources close to the police, the cargo was most likely meant to be unloaded in Montenegro.

According to the Customs Administration, the containers arrived in Bar on June 3 from Ecuador in Latin America , in a ship owned by the Italian company MCI.

The ship's documentation said the containers were sent by Vimticorp from Ecuador, while the recipient was the Rrapo Company in Albania.

According to the documentation, the container was supposed to be transported by land to Albania. The report notes that it is "interesting" that the ship immediately upon unloading its cargo in Montenegro sailed to the Albanian port of Durres.

The Montenegrin police said last week that specialized police teams with the office of the special prosecutor were conducting an extensive investigation to determine who owns the drugs, who knew about the shipment, and whether it was in fact bought by someone in Montenegro.

The newspaper said it learned from high ranking officials of Montenegro's police that a special investigation was also led into whether the cocaine was indeed intended for Albania or if the client was someonein Montenegro or Kosovo.

"Now that such a large amount of drugs, worth about EUR 14 million, have been found, it cannot be easily covered up or left to to be forgotten. First our police will through Interpol request data on how the cargo arrived at Gioia Tauro in Italy where the goods were transferred and loaded and whether the ship had docked in anywhere unplanned," the source was quoted as saying, and adding: "Personally, I suspect, and many think the same, that the drugs were supposed to remain in Montenegro."

During the investigation it was found that the shipping of the container was done by Interlog from Bar, owned by Erik Košuta. The Podgorica daily Vijesti asked the director and the company's authorized representative Nela Vitić for comment.

"I do not give any statements," said Vitić, who in October 2004 testified during the trial of Vuksan Cemović, convicted of smuggling cocaine from Venezuela to Montenegro.

Inspectors have already acquired data on the company, and who and how hired it, writes Politika.

"I want to pay tribute to the management and staff of the Customs in the Port of Bar who participated in the record drug seizure", Minister of Interior of Montenegro Raško Konjević said last week.

He added that the activities of the customs and police in Bar that resulted in the seizure of cocaine represented "evidence of strengthening of Montenegrin institutions in the fight against organized crime."