The UK Government today added members of the Kavač and Škaljari clans from Montenegro and Serbia, along with individuals who assisted them in obtaining forged Bosnian passports, to its sanctions list for involvement in irregular migration.
The sanctions follow the publication of an investigation by the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN), which revealed how Balkan druglords and contract killers stole the identities of BiH citizens to acquire genuine Bosnian passports. CIN also published a database listing over 60 criminals from Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia who had obtained Bosnian identity documents.
A total of 25 individuals from around the world have been sanctioned, including nationals of Serbia and Montenegro: Ratko Živković, Almir Jahović, Dejan Pavlović, and Marko Petrović – all convicted of drug trafficking, murder, and violent crimes. The UK Government’s sanctions list also includes Serbian national Nikola Vein, originally from Croatia, and former Bosnian police officer Dalibor Ćurlik, who are suspected of helping regional criminals obtain Bosnian passports in Banja Luka and Brčko.
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“The gang leaders, key facilitators, and equipment suppliers involved in people-smuggling have been targeted by the UK’s first-ever sanctions aimed at tackling irregular migration,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
These sanctions target individuals and entities involved in people-smuggling and driving irregular migration to the UK, from a small boat supplier in Asia, to informal Hawala money movers in the Middle East, to gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa.
The passports fraudulently obtained by drug cartel hitmen contained stolen personal data of Bosnian citizens but featured genuine photographs of the criminals themselves. Some of these forged passports were used at the time of targeted killings of rival gang members in Turkiye, and police later seized these travel documents during raids following arrests.
Alongside this, CIN also published a story about Bosnian citizens who are experiencing difficulties when trying to cross borders because drug traffickers and hitmen have stolen their identities.
