| Bosnian mafia | |
| Founded: | Early 1990s |
| Founding Location: | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Ethnicity: | Bosniaks and Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats |
| Territory: | Western Europe, Former Yugoslavia, South America, North America |
| Criminal Activities: | Drug trafficking, Cigarette smuggling, Assassination, Bank fraud, Blackmailing, Bribery, Contract killing, Infiltration of Politics, Money laundering, Murder, Police corruption, Political corruption, Witness intimidation, Witness tampering, Gambling, Human trafficking, extortion. |
The Bosnian mafia (or Bosnian organized crime) is the body of illegal gangs and criminal organisations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina and within the Bosnian diaspora. Bosnian organised crime figures operate mostly in Europe. Bosnian organised-crime groups are involved in a wide range of activities and extortion (often under the cover of ostensible security and insurance companies). Smuggling revenues are between €600 million and €900 million.[1]
The Bosnian mafia can be broadly divided into three categories – the Bosniak mafia, the Bosnian Serb mafia and many local organised-crime groups. The Bosnian mafia groups are involved in a wide range of activities; one of their more notorious activities occurred in 2003 when they smuggled and sold 250,000 Zastava M70 Yugoslav-made AK-47s to Iraq.
The federalist government of Bosnia and Herzegovina makes fighting organised-crime groups extremely difficult. Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two largely independent entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska – both of which have their own capital, parliament, president and police force. Due to the poor cooperation between law-enforcement agencies in the two regions, criminals can often evade prosecution simply by moving from one to the other. Mafia groups from neighbouring countries (particularly Serbia and Croatia) often base their operations in Sarajevo, due to its proximity to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, there have been some efforts to increase collaboration between the two regions. In 2006 the European Union established the State Investigation and Protection Agency. SIPA is a Bosnian federal police agency with authority in both regions, and is under the direct administration of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH MIS).
Following the death of the historical leaders of the Sarajevo's underworld, a new generation of young criminals began to emerge.[2] Among them the most notable are:
In recent years, due to its drug trafficking activities, Bosnian criminal groups expanded its operations to South America. Numerous Bosnian nationals were arrested in South American countries related to cocaine trafficking to Europe, such as David Cufaj and Smail Šikalo.[9] [10]
The Tito and Dino Cartel, led by Edin Gačanin, is said to be one of the major players in the drug trafficking in Europe, controlling one third of the cocaine that enters the port of Rotterdam. It has also a strong presence in Peru, which according to a Peruvian official, the cartel is the main buyer of drugs in the country. The DEA considers the cartel's network to be one of the 50 largest drug trafficking operations on the planet. According to the investigations, the cartel is composed of family members and friends from Edin Gačanin's old neighborhood in Sarajevo. The cartel is currently based in Dubai.[11] [12]
Gačanin was arrested in Dubai in November 2022 being one of 49 people arrested in a concerted effort by Europol against the Tito and Dino cartel, however Gačanin was released on bail in January despite the Netherlands having filed extradition papers, his location is now unknown.[13] In 2023 Edin Gačanin was sanctioned by the US who cited "close ties" to the Irish Kinahan Organised Crime Group and a €350m cocaine plot.[14]