The Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) is set to request arrest warrants for Nikola Dedaj from Bar and Darko Novaković from Podgorica, according to reports from Vijesti.

Both individuals are suspected of being part of a criminal organization, led by Vladimir Mijajlović, the owner of the “Televex” company, who managed to evade arrest yesterday.

Dedaj and Novaković are allegedly linked to extensive cigarette smuggling operations, prompting officers from the Special Police Department (SPO) to conduct searches on their properties yesterday.

The prosecution asserts that this organized crime group has been active in Montenegro for years, inflicting multi-million-dollar losses on the state budget through tax evasion and other illegal financial activities.

Vijesti reported that the SDT will also pursue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Mijajlović, who has been outside Montenegro since January.

In connection with the same criminal organization, SPO officers arrested Haris and Refik Kardović from Rožaje, along with two individuals from Baran—Hajrula Jahović and Aldin Mlatišuma—yesterday.

These suspects are accused of participating in a smuggling ring that has been trafficking cigarettes from the Port of Bar, through Rožaje, to other destinations abroad.

Previously, Mlatišuma was arrested in February 2021 on related charges. His company, “Catwood,” was implicated in a criminal complaint alleging that, between early October and November 3, 2020, he unlawfully removed 4,443 packs of cigarettes from the customs office in the Free Zone of Bar, bypassing customs oversight.

Jahović operates a road freight transport company.

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