PLAN HATCHED OUTSIDE SERBIA: Cocaine worth €5 million was supposed to end up in Belgrade and Novi Sad

A large drug haul, netting about 20 kilograms of cocaine happened in Backa Palanka in northern Serbia and was carried out by members of the UKP police unit on a major international drug smuggling route.

According to the latest information from the investigation, the narcotics arrived directly from South America, while the final destination were supposed to be the two largest markets in Serbia, Telegraf.rs has learned.

Operational data shows that the seized cocaine was intended for street sale in Novi Sad and Belgrade.

Drugs smuggled across Danube by boat

According to exclusive information obtained by the police, two persons transported a bag full of cocaine by motor boat across the Danube, entering the territory of Serbia from Croatia, near Backa Palanka on our side. The drugs were found and seized near the Celarevo beach shortly after the boat arrived.

Behind the crime is a well-organized international drug smuggling gang that is using the Danube as a transit route to bypass official border crossings.

They planned to increase cocaine mass fivefold

These drugs are of extremely high purity, which would have allowed criminals to make huge profits by mixing it with other substances at a 1:5 ratio.

This means that as much as 100 kilograms for street sale could have been obtained from the 20 kilograms of actual cocaine, brining the illegal gains to 5 million euros.

One smuggler identified!

Although the suspects managed to escape just before the police arrived, the ring around them is closing. The latest information confirms that one person from the boat has already been identified, while work is being done to quickly identify the other smuggler.

An intensive manhunt has been launched for both of them and the UKP Service for Combatting Narcotics is currently conducting an extensive operation to locate and arrest the suspects.

Second major blow to drug gangs in two weeks

This operation is a continuation of an ongoing UKP crackdown along smuggling routes in this, northern part of Serbia.

Only two weeks ago, members of this same service carried out another spectacular operation at the Batrovci border crossing, when as much as 200 kilograms of marijuana and 2.5 kilograms of cocaine were seized.

The increased control at the borders, as well as on the rivers, is a clear signal that the country has raised the level of the fight against the transit of narcotics to the highest level.

(Telegraf.rs)