Police carried out concentrated checks at nearly 1,000 locations.Continue reading
The Győr department of the National Bureau of Investigation of the Rapid Response and Special Police Service (KR NNI), in cooperation with the Drug Crime Bureau (KBEH), has cut the Balkans drug cartel’s links to Hungary. All known members of the criminal organization were arrested, with one exception: Nikolic Andrija, one of Europe’s most wanted criminals, is still on the run, Police.hu reports.
The investigation was launched back in 2023, after the KR NNI targeted a criminal organization operating from the Balkans. According to the available evidence, the drug cartel was led by Nikolic Andrija between 2019 and 2023, who organized the illegal trade through the SkyECC encrypted messaging platform.
In recent years, the network has smuggled at least 200 liters of amphetamine oil, 56 kilograms of cocaine, 67,000 ecstasy pills, 300 kilograms of marijuana, and three kilograms of heroin into Hungary.
The drugs were typically exchanged for luxury cars or large sums of money.
The Hungarian coordinator of the criminal organization was a man from Montenegro, G. D., who managed drug distribution in and around Budapest between 2020 and 2023. The investigation revealed that he sold around four kg of cocaine, 258 kg of marijuana, 3,000 ecstasy pills, 7.5 liters of amphetamine oil, and 500 grams of MDMA crystal.
Some of the money from the drug deal was transferred to Nikolic’s account, while other amounts were laundered through a mobile phone store in Budapest.
A pair of Syrian brothers working in the store played an important role in the operation of the criminal organization, as they converted the forints from the drug trade into euros and stored the larger amounts in a safe. It is estimated that around 360 million forints (900,000 euros) could have been turned over in the shop over the years. There were couriers who delivered cash 150 times over two years, usually in batches of several thousand euros.
Andrija Nikolic left Hungary in May 2023, and has since remained in an unknown location.
Authorities issued European and international arrest warrants for him in December 2023, and last week he was placed on Europol’s “most wanted” list.
The dismantling of the criminal organization took a decisive turn in January this year, when the KR NNI and the KBEH arrested G. D. in a joint operation on the M7 motorway at Balatonvilágos. The Montenegrin man was suspected of trafficking a significant amount of drugs and has been in custody ever since.
On March 16, in a coordinated operation, the investigators arrested the last four gang members, including in the mobile phone store in Budapest, where they had just found six million forints (15,000 euros) in their safe. Police also searched a taxi used by one of the dealers, in which they regularly carried out drug deals. The two Hungarian suspects are accused of drug trafficking, while the Syrian brothers are charged with money laundering.
The two foreign nationals were taken into criminal custody by the investigators and both were arrested by the court. The two Hungarian men are defending themselves at large. The recent operation has finally closed the investigation into the Balkan drug cartel network in Hungary.
Via Police.hu, Featured image: Pixabay