SMUGGLING OF COCAINE IN EUROPE BY BALKAN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL GROUPS

Abstract

Smuggling and illegal cocaine trade is ranked among five the most profitable jobs of today by highly organized criminal groups, characterized by tightness, hierarchical and strict division of roles and activities in the international frameworks. It represents the source of other criminal activities, primarly as a financial support for performing various organized forms of financial crime, corruption and „money laundering“, but also for the smuggling of firearms, stolen vehicles, human trafficking. The long process of transition and socio-economic recovery, as well as the legacy of opportunities that have prevailed during the conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, influenced the development of certain forms of organized criminal activity and the strengthening of its ties in the Balkan region. In the chain of drug smuggling, many well-organized crime groups all over the world are involved, and among them there are the strongest and the most organized groups which originate from these areas, so-called Balkan organized criminal groups. For the countries of the Western Balkan, such as: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, the smuggling of cocaine by these groups poses a serious threat. Although the transportation of cocaine is largerly done fr from the Balkans, the danger represents the „dirty money“ acquired by smuggling cocaine which returns to the leaders or influential members of an organized criminal group. In this way, the leaders and influental members of the group, in the counitres of origin, increase their own power and welth and thus acquired money they legally invest into the business flows in the countries of the Balkans. This type of criminal activitiy is difficult to link to the crimes committed abroad.