Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović specified that in the last two interconnected actions of the police and Uskok against 45 persons suspected of drug abuse, more than eight tons of various types of drugs were seized.
“The actions are codenamed ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Dica and Hope’ and represent a significant attack by the Croatian police on the criminal structure of the drug milieu. “Seven police departments with a total of 250 police officers from several branches of the police, including criminal, special and intervention police, are participating in the action,” he said.
Božinović explained that the police and the prosecutor’s office are targeting several criminal associations that several years ago transported large quantities of drugs from Latin America and Albania to Europe, mainly cocaine, heroin, marijuana, hashish and synthetic drugs.
“We are talking about the seizure of more than eight tons of various types of drugs, the most being cocaine, around 6.7 tons. Some of the drugs were seized in Croatia, but most of the seizures were made in the United States of America and Spain,” he added.
The minister emphasized that more than 2,600 criminal offenses of drug abuse are prosecuted annually in Croatia, while 27 criminal associations related to drug crime are prosecuted annually, which is 35 percent more than during the mandates of previous governments.
The former world champion is allegedly also being targeted by investigators
“These figures indicate the careful, patient and multi-year work of the police, whereby large resources are invested, mainly by the criminal police. Those results show why Croatia is a safe country and why it is a leader in the fight against organized crime,” he said.
The police previously announced that arrests and the implementation of urgent evidentiary actions are underway in the area of the police administrations of Split-Dalmatia, Zagreb, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Istria, Sibenik-Knin, Zadar and Dubrovnik-Neretva.
After the criminal investigation is completed, the suspects will be handed over to the custody supervisor, while the police will file criminal charges against them with the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime, the MUP reported.
Uskok reported that after questioning the suspect, he will make a decision on further action, i.e. whether he will initiate an investigation against the suspects and request pre-trial detention, about which he will “inform the public in a timely manner”.
The media announced that the investigators are targeting, among others, the co-owner of the Zagreb folk club Ritz Mario Gavrić, the former world champion in kick-boxing Marko Benzon and Jakša Cvitanović Cvik, who the media once called the Korčula drug lord. The Zagreb group was allegedly led by Christian Palić, and the Split group by Benzon, Hina writes.
Photo: illustration
