Drug Bust in Belgrade: 85 Kilograms, Three Arrests

Police seized around 85 kilograms of drugs in the Belgrade area and arrested three people, the Novi Sad Police Directorate announced. The operation was carried out on the order of the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The three arrested are M.Z. (1988) from Kragujevac, I.G. (1983) from Cacak and Dj.M. (2000) from Belgrade. They are charged with unauthorized production and distribution of narcotics.

What was found in the truck

Police stopped a truck carrying M.Z. and I.G. A search turned up 15 kilograms of cocaine and 36.5 kilograms of marijuana.

Investigators suspect Dj.M. had earlier taken delivery of three packages containing 34 kilograms of marijuana from the other two men. That quantity was found in his possession. Together, the three seizures add up to around 85 kilograms.

According to unofficial sources, the street value of the drugs is estimated at more than 2 million euros. That estimate is not part of the official police statement.

What did the logo on the cocaine packages mean?

According to unofficial sources, the cocaine packages bore the stamped logo of the car brand Lexus. The mark is not decoration but a business signature.

Criminal groups use a stamp on the packaging to mark a shipment’s origin and the purity of the product. A buyer further down the chain recognizes whose delivery it is and at what price, without a single word over the phone. That is why, for an investigation, such a mark is often more useful than the quantity itself: it ties this shipment to earlier seizures bearing the same stamp, in Serbia and abroad.

The same sources say the truck had been modified to conceal the goods and that encrypted phones were found on the suspects. Neither detail appears in the police statement.

Up to 48 hours in custody

All three have been ordered held for up to 48 hours. Along with a criminal complaint, they will be brought before the competent prosecutor’s office, which will decide on further proceedings.

Until a final verdict, they remain suspects. The claims in the criminal complaint are allegations, not established facts.

Novi Sad police operating in Belgrade

An easily overlooked detail sits right in the statement itself. The seizure is credited to the Novi Sad Police Directorate, the truck was stopped in Belgrade, and the order came from the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office.

That division of roles indicates the case did not start with a random traffic stop. The operational work had been carried out earlier, and where the vehicle was stopped was a matter of logistics, not jurisdiction.

Bigger than the previous seizure

Our newsroom recently reported on a drug seizure in Dobanovci, where 45 kilograms were found and three people were arrested. The new haul is nearly twice as large.

The difference is not just in kilograms. In Dobanovci, the operation centered on a single location, while here two sites and three people from three different cities (Kragujevac, Cacak and Belgrade) were processed in a single day. That points to the pattern of a transport ring rather than street dealing.

The next step is the prosecutor’s decision on a motion for pretrial detention, expected once the 48 hour hold expires.