Dragoslav Kosmajac and members of his group were arrested this morning by order of the High Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. The same institution will conduct an investigation against them.

Police had taken seven of Dragoslav Kosmajac’s accomplices into custody; four in Sremska Mitrovica, and the other three in Belgrade. They were arrested on suspicion of anincitement to commit offenses and tax evasion. The decision was made to detain Kosmajac and his accomplices for 48 hours, during which the prosecutor questioned them.

During his arrest at a house in Zvezdara, lying on Kosmajac’s desk there was a book: Šaric – Kako je balkanski kokainski kartel osvojio Evropu, by Stevan Dojčinović.

Police footage taken during the arrest shows Dojčinović’s book opened halfway on top of a table next to Kosmajac’s bed.

Dojčinović dedicated two entire chapters of his book to Kosmajac, so it’s possible that is what he was reading at the time of the arrest.

The White Book issued by the Serbian police in 2001 named Kosmajac as one of the country’s most significant drug dealers. Despite this, Kosmajac was unknown to the public until recently. A few months ago, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić repeated that the White Book claims that Kosmajac was one of Serbia’s biggest drug dealers, and said nobody was brave enough to mention Kosmajac in public before.

The Prime Minister, however, could have read the OCCRP story Serbian PM was warned of Toncev’s mafia ties, published on July 1st2013 which, in one short paragraph, explains Kosmajac’s significant role in Serbia’s drug trade:

“Kosmajac is, according to police reports, court testimonies, media reports and police sources, alleged to be one of the largest cocaine smugglers in Serbia and Western Europe, but OCCRP and CINS could find no evidence he had ever been arrested or charged for any criminal activity.”

According to the White Book, Kosmajac was tied to drug smuggling groups in South America, from where he distributed large amounts of cocaine to Europe”. He also transferred heroin from Turkey, Bulgaria and Macedonia to Europe. He “never personally came in contact with drugs or with persons who smuggle them directly,” the report says.

The White Book claims Kosmajac employed Ljubiša Buha and Dušan Spasojević, former leaders of Serbia’s two most powerful crime groups– the Surčin and Zemun drug gangs. Two former members of the Zemun gang, Dejan Milenković Bagzi and Aleksandar Simović, confirmed in court statements reported in the media that Kosmajac was supplying drugs to the Surčin gang.