The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ruled today that six people arrested in a police operation called “Boss” yesterday will be held for 30 days in jail. They are accused of organized crime, tax evasion, money laundering and customs fraud. They are five men with the same last name Sadiković: Anes, Kasim, Adis, Ismet and Damir (it was unknown how or if they are related) plus Jasmin Kasumović.
The court decided to detain them because of fear they would flee. They hold dual citizenship so if released could easily leave BiH. There was also fear they’d tamper with witnesses, obstruct criminal procedure, hide or destroy evidence, or even commit additional crimes.
Police later released one of the men for reasons not yet clear.
Police believe the group evaded at least 3.5 million KM in taxes and customs fraud over the past several years.
Police moved against the group in Sarajevo, Brčko, Gradačac, Banja Luke, Trnovo and Doboj-Jug. They seized evidence including about 100,000 KM, financial and business documents, cell phones, telephone cards, fire arms, and computers.
Kasim Sadiković, owner of Sa Tours company which specializes in shopping tours to Turkey, tipped the Istanbul police in 2004 that smugglers were trying to hide drugs in his truck bound for Sarajevo. Turkish police found 13 kilograms of heroin in cargo ready to be loaded. The Center for Investigative Reporting wrote earlier that some BiH auto transport companies have been used to bring drugs out of Turkey to the Balkans and further into Western Europe.
