Operation General fugitive arrested in Belgrade
V. V. (51) from Berane, wanted on an Interpol red notice, was arrested in a Belgrade venue over a network suspected of smuggling more than 2.5 tons of cocaine from South America.
- Serbian police arrested V. V. (51) from Berane in a Belgrade venue, wanted on an Interpol red notice issued in September 2024.
- The notice was issued under Montenegrin criminal law over suspected organizing of a criminal group and unauthorized drug trafficking.
- He is sought within the international operation "General", aimed at a network suspected of smuggling more than 2.5 tons of cocaine from South America.
- Forged identity documents issued in Kosovo were found on him, adding a separate charge for document forgery.
Serbian police have arrested a man wanted on an Interpol red notice in Belgrade. He is V. V. (51) from Berane, a dual citizen of Montenegro and Serbia. According to the Interior Ministry, he had been sought since September 2024. The arrest took place at a hospitality venue in the capital.
The notice was issued by Montenegro, under its own criminal law. He is suspected of organizing a criminal group and of the unauthorized production, possession and trafficking of narcotics. Until a final court ruling, this remains a matter of suspicion only.
What is known about the arrest
The detained man is sought within the international operation named “General”. That operation targets a network which, according to the investigation, smuggled more than 2.5 tons of cocaine from South America toward Europe and Australia. It is, in other words, a large-scale trafficking channel with shipments crossing several continents.
During the arrest, forged identity documents were found on the suspect. According to police, they were issued in Kosovo. As a result, he also faces a charge of document forgery, and a separate criminal complaint will follow. The false papers were, by all indications, meant to help him avoid identification.
The operation on Serbian territory was carried out by members of the Criminal Police Directorate, the Special Operations Department and Intervention Unit 92 of the Belgrade Police Directorate. These are units deployed for more complex and higher-risk arrests. Following his detention, the suspect was held pending further procedural steps.
Why does the ministry separate cooperation from its own work?
The statement placed a clear emphasis. The ministry stressed that international police cooperation should be distinguished from the operational work of domestic police. The notice did arrive through Interpol, but the locating of the fugitive, the planning of the operation and the arrest itself were, it says, the result of Serbian officers’ work.
This distinction is not accidental. An Interpol red notice is a request to find and provisionally arrest a person for extradition. It does not, by itself, reveal where the wanted person is. That information comes from field work. The ministry maintains that precisely such work produced the concrete result in Belgrade.
The next step is legal. Extradition proceedings are expected, decided by the competent court in Serbia. Those proceedings assess whether the conditions are met for the detainee to be handed to the state that seeks him. Until they conclude, he remains under the jurisdiction of the Serbian judiciary.
For now, the outline of the case is known, but not every detail of the alleged network. How much will the coming weeks reveal about the routes that brought cocaine to the European market?
