Markovic: Saric’s transfer operation took one hour

PODGORICA – Montenegrin Justice Minister Dusko Markovic has said that Darko Saric was handed over to Serbian authorities Tuesday morning and noted that it is definite that operational efforts of the two countries’ services led to the locating of the most wanted drug lord.

The whole transfer operation in Montenegro was conducted between 6.30 and 7.30 this morning, Markovic said at a press conference in Podgorica.

Montenegrin Interior Minister Raska Konjevic stressed that such cooperation with Serbia is part of her country’s obligations in the joint fight against organized crime, commending the efforts of the two countries’ operational teams in the joint action.

Minister Markovic said he cannot give any more details about Saric’s arrest, or information about his whereabouts, hiding places and helpers before the arrest.

Saric was questioned in Belgrade today at the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, which must decide whether he will be remanded in custody, that is, whether an order to put him in detention issued in absentia on December 9, 2010 remains in effect.

Saric, who stands accused of organizing international trade in illicit drugs, attracted the world’s public attention in October 2009, when about 2.8 tons of cocaine were seized at the Uruguay’s port of Santiago Vazquez in a police operation code-named Balkan Warrior, a joint action between Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Uruguayan police.

Photo Tanjug, Ivan Petrovic Ipe