International Killers Armed with Bosnian Passports

In May 2022, Dušan Jovanović, known as Giba—a Serbian national and alleged hitman for the Kavač drug cartel—was issued a BiH passport under a false identity by the police department in Zvornik. Shortly afterwards, he boarded a flight from Sarajevo Airport to Istanbul. According to information from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA), Jovanović returned in mid-September, just days after the assassination of Jovan Vukotić, leader of the rival Škaljari clan, in Istanbul.

Although Jovanović has not been charged in connection with the murder, he was arrested a year later upon returning to the BiH capital, amid suspicions that he was preparing the execution of a Bosnian official. During questioning, he told investigators that he had travelled to Istanbul using a forged Bosnian passport under the name Goran Stojanović. He claimed the trip had lasted only a few days and was for a hair transplant procedure. However, data from BiH Border Police reveals that Jovanović spent three months in Turkey.

Prosecutors and police believe that Giba has been on a killing spree across the Balkans for several years. Jovanović is among the accused currently on trial before the High Court in Belgrade for the murders of Alan Kožar and Damir Hadžić, who were killed in July 2020 on the Greek island of Corfu. The killings were orchestrated by Veljko Belivuk, Darko Šarić, and Radoje Zvicer, prominent figures in the Balkan drug underworld. According to the indictment from the Office of the Prosecutor for Organised Crime in Belgrade — obtained by the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) in collaboration with the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK)—Jovanović is alleged to have played the role of the direct perpetrator in the murders.

Multiple hitmen from Serbian and Montenegrin criminal networks reportedly took part in the operation and its planning. Documents obtained by CIN reveal that at least three members of the group had legitimate Bosnian passports issued under false identities.

Kožar and Hadžić, the victims, were members of the Škaljari clan. Kavač and Škaljari clans are major criminal organisations that emerged in the coastal Montenegrin town of Kotor. Members of these rival clans have been killing each other for years in a violent struggle for dominance over the European drug market.

There is no record of Jovanović using a BiH passport again after his return from Istanbul. In September 2023, he re-entered Bosnia and Herzegovina illegally and settled in Sarajevo, where, according to police sources, his next target was located.

The police in Republika Srpska (RS) received intelligence indicating that Jovanović had been paid EUR 15,000 in Serbia.  He reportedly left EUR 10,000 with his wife and brought EUR 5,000 with him to Sarajevo. “The money was given to him to assassinate Sarajevo police officer Miroslav P. It is most likely Miroslav Plakalović, an officer with the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior”, states an internal report from the RS Ministry of Interior (MUPRS).

Plakalović confirmed to CIN that he was potentially the target of a professional hitman. He explained that Jovanović was initially only under surveillance upon entering Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the request of Greek police, and that there was no immediate warrant for his arrest. However, the situation soon escalated.  Serbian police learned that Jovanović was planning to assassinate the Sarajevo police officer and was expected to collect a weapon in Mostar for the job.

“Therefore, we decided to arrest him,” he said, adding that he was not unsettled by the information that Jovanović had entered Bosnia and Herzegovina intending to kill him.

“Somehow, it’s become normal for me — whenever someone shows up or something happens, I’m informed that I’m the target,” says Plakalović.
This is now the third time that he has been marked for assassination by organised crime groups.

In 2003, a local criminal group from East Sarajevo planted two kilograms of explosives beneath his car.  The perpetrators were never identified. Around fifteen years later, Aleksandar Macan—the man responsible for the 2018 murders of two Sarajevo police officers—allegedly planned to kill Plakalović, who was both a witness and investigator in the case. In court, Macan later apologised, claiming he had not been serious when, in a Sky app conversation with a partner, he spoke of killing Plakalović and eating his heart.

Despite repeated threats, Plakalović refuses police protection, saying he does not want to put his colleagues in danger. “I don’t believe there’s any real protection—only prevention. Once everything is planned and in place the way they want, you can never truly protect yourself. I live in Pale. It’s a small town. Everyone knows I’ve had problems… When I park on one side of the building, the five spots to the left and the five to the right are always empty. That’s just how it is, unfortunately.”

The Bosnian Must Go

During an investigation conducted in 2023 by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office into passport forgery, Serbian national Jovanović denied that he was in Sarajevo for illicit activities. He told investigators that he had fled persecution in Serbia and feared for his life, and had therefore obtained a forged passport to remain hidden.

However, his story did not hold water. Jovanović eventually admitted to having crossed the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia at least once using his original Serbian passport, which contained his real personal details. Eventually, when police arrested him in a rented flat in the Sarajevo Tower building, they found EUR 5,000 in cash, fuelling suspicions that claims about his involvement in contract killings in Serbia were credible.

Transcripts of encrypted communications he had with friends via the “Anom” application further deepened suspicions, suggesting that Jovanović had taken part in planning at least one assassination in recent years. Serbian authorities provided Bosnian police with reports detailing exchanges from 2021 between Jovanović and Dario Đorđević, known as Dexter—a Serbian criminal who, according to media reports, is serving a life sentence in Austria for drug trafficking.

In one of their conversations from May 2021, Jovanović and Đorđević discussed plans to assassinate a man referred to only as “the Bosnian.”

Jovanović wrote to Đorđević: “We’ll kill him, bro, we have to—there’s no question. We need to finish this, or everything we’ve done was for nothing.  I’ll take over.  It’ll be done in seven days.”

Đorđević replied: “Once he’s gone, everything goes with him.”

Jovanović was not alone in Sarajevo. On the same day, Darko Dulović was also arrested in the BiH capital. Like Jovanović, he had obtained a forged BiH passport and driving licence the previous year, issued by the Zvornik Police Department.

Dulović, too, was using a stolen identity. He travelled under the name Đorđe Kuga, most often between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The then prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, Dubravko Čampara, informed his colleagues at the cantonal level that they were dealing with contract killers, but that no criminal case had been opened against either Jovanović or Dulović in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Case files from the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office, reviewed by CIN journalists, made no mention of coordinated activity between Jovanović and Dulović in Sarajevo. Nevertheless, police inspector Plakalović claimed the two men had been under surveillance and had met multiple times at a café in the Dobrinja neighbourhood of the capital. Jovanović and Dulović were brought before the Sarajevo Municipal Court on a joint indictment for passport forgery.

Both men have serious criminal records. Jovanović was convicted in Serbia in 2014 and 2017, receiving a total sentence of eight years and four months for aggravated theft, grievous bodily harm, armed robbery, and possession of firearms and explosives. Dulović, meanwhile, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in Montenegro for drug trafficking. While in prison, Dulović was also tried for the murder of Belgrade criminal Siniša Milić, but was later acquitted of the charges.

The two men admitted their guilt in court in Sarajevo and were sentenced to eight months in prison at the beginning of last year. Having spent around four months in pre-trial detention, they had the remainder of their sentence converted into a fine.  They paid 11,900 BAM each, hoping for their release. Afterward, Jovanović was arrested as part of an investigation into murders on the Greek island of Corfu.

A few months after the conviction of Jovanović and Dulović, police, acting on orders from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, arrested Marko Ikić from Zvornik and two other members of his group on suspicion of facilitating the issuance of Bosnian identity cards and travel documents for criminals from the region, using forged foreign documents. Their clients were members of organised crime groups wanted for serious murders and drug trafficking. This case was subsequently transferred to the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bijeljina.

Miloš Pandrc, a convicted cocaine trafficker from Belgrade and a member of Darko Šarić’s criminal clan in Serbia, relied on his Bosnian connections when, in 2020, he negotiated the procurement of Bosnian passports for friends and acquaintances in Loznica, just across the river from Zvornik. Pandrc himself holds a regular Bosnian passport under the name Velimir Đokić, issued in Zvornik.

In one exchange via the Sky application, Pandrc offered a Bosnian passport to a colleague for around EUR 6,000, or a Slovak passport at three times that price.

CIN journalists have gathered evidence showing that at least 60 leaders and influential members of criminal gangs from the Balkans obtained legitimate BiH passports or identity cards over the course of ten years, with these documents issued in Banja Luka, Brčko, Zvornik, Sarajevo, Mostar, and Goražde. Some of these individuals used the documents in operations related to planning and carrying out murders abroad.

Although they obtained these Bosnian documents through various groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the method they employed remained largely the same. According to data from police investigations, the organisers of these operations had access to an old database that allowed them to identify individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had never applied for personal documents. They would then enter their details into forged identity cards, adding the criminals’ authentic photographs. Typically, they authorised individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina to collect citizenship certificates on their behalf. Members of the same groups would also arrange residence registration certificates using fraudulent rental contracts for apartments or houses. The assembled documentation would be submitted to police departments along with passport applications. During the process, applicants were photographed and fingerprinted. The identity documents were most often issued through expedited procedures, within just a few days.

Radoje In Front of The Camera

Radoje Živković, aka Žuti, the organiser of the murder of Škaljari clan leader Jovan Vukotić, was yet another individual holding fraudulent BiH citizenship. This Montenegrin from Nikšić is a prominent member of the Kavač clan. Živković was the subject of an active Interpol red notice, and to avoid arrest, he required a Bosnian passport under a false identity, allowing him to travel to Istanbul undetected.

He obtained the passport from the Banja Luka Police Department in July 2021. According to reports from the RS Ministry of Interior’s Department for Organised and Serious Crime, Živković had earlier enlisted a group led by former Banja Luka police officer Dalibor Ćurlik to help him gather the necessary documents.

First, in Serbia, Živković created a forged identity card in the name of Andrej Jović. With the assistance of group members embedded in the Banja Luka city administration, he then obtained a citizenship certificate under that same alias. Ćurlik arranged a certificate of residence listing Živković as living at his mother’s home—another key requirement for passport issuance.  He then accompanied Živković to the Banja Luka Police Department, where they completed the forms and submitted the application for an identity card and passport under the name Andrej Jović.

All of this was captured by surveillance cameras inside the police station. The footage shows Radoje Živković giving his fingerprints and having his photograph taken for the new documents. Radoje Živković authorised Ćurlik to act on his behalf, and in early July 2021, the Banja Luka native collected the passport in his name, followed two weeks later by the identity card. According to border control records, Živković used the forged passport to fly to Istanbul on 24 July.

He was arrested there in September the following year, accused of organising a group that had been tracking and ultimately assassinating Jovan Vukotić. Earlier this year, Radoje Živković was sentenced to life in prison.

During the arrest of this Montenegrin criminal, Turkish police seized a BiH identity card and passport issued in the name of Andrej Jović but bearing Živković’s photograph.

Ćurlik helped at least four other criminals obtain Bosnian passports.

In mid-June 2021, surveillance cameras at the Banja Luka police station recorded Ćurlik alongside Marko Petrović from Belgrade as they submitted a passport application in the name of Đorđe Suša. According to official records from Serbia’s Ministry of Interior, Petrović has a history of violent behaviour and endangering public traffic. Acting under Petrović’s authorisation, Ćurlik collected the passport on 17 June.

The following month, the Banja Luka group was hired for a new job—gathering documentation to issue a forged BiH passport for Almir Jahović, an influential member of the Kavač clan from Montenegro. Jahović was the subject of an Interpol red notice for his involvement in the attempted murder of two rival group members in Bar, Montenegro.

On 2 August, Jahović, accompanied by Ćurlik, submitted a passport application in Banja Luka. Just a day later, the former Banja Luka police officer collected the travel document on his behalf, acting as his authorised representative. Jahović and Ćurlik were arrested in Banja Luka during the handover of the passport. The Montenegrin was soon extradited to his home country. 

The Brčko Connection for the Škaljari Clan

While the Kavač clan relied on connections in Banja Luka, members of the rival Škaljari clan obtained BiH passports in Brčko in 2020, facilitated by Nikola Vein, a Serbian national who himself held a forged Bosnian passport, according to a report by the Brčko District police.

Through Vein’s mediation, passports were issued in Brčko to several individuals, including Ratko Živković, Krsto Vujić, brothers Risto and Filip Mijanović, Marko Martinović, Božidar Punošević, Igor Milojević, Dejan Pavlović, Vladimir Ulam, and others.

However, indictments related to the Corfu murder cases later revealed that Ratko Živković was in fact a Kavač clan mole within the Škaljari clan. Throughout his time with the group, he was feeding intelligence to the rival faction about their movements and plans. According to the indictment, Živković played a pivotal role in locating two Škaljari members on the Greek island of Corfu by maintaining communication with them, ultimately revealing their hideout.

The police investigation found that most of these criminals had forged Serbian ID cards, featuring their real photographs but bearing the personal details of Bosnian citizens who had never applied for official documents.  Police have never determined how Vein accessed the personal data of BiH nationals who had not exercised their right to obtain identity documents.  It is suspected that he collaborated with individuals who had access to an outdated database of issued documents. However, neither in this case nor in most other investigations have authorities identified those who supplied criminals with data on desirable identities.

Earlier, Vein had been involved in similar activities in Croatia, where in October last year he was convicted in absentia by the County Court in Zagreb and sentenced to four years and ten months in prison. In Croatia, he facilitated the procurement of 75 passports for criminals, reportedly earning over one million BAM.  The price of a single passport ranged from EUR 7,500 to EUR 15,000.

While Croatia requested his extradition from Serbia, the neighbouring country did not comply.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, never submitted such a request.

CIN journalists decided to search for Vein themselves at his registered address in an apartment building in the Borča settlement, Belgrade. Neighbours confirmed that he lived there, but he did not respond to the building’s intercom.  Eventually, Vein contacted the reporters via a neighbour’s phone, claiming he was visiting his daughter outside Belgrade and would not be returning soon.  He denied any involvement in the forged passport scheme in Brčko and claimed to be unaware that he had been convicted in Croatia on similar charges.

“I don’t read the newspapers,” Vein told the CIN journalist.

Cattle Farmers from Bačka on Red Notices

According to data from the prosecutor’s investigation in Brčko, Vein helped twelve criminals from Serbia and Montenegro acquire forged Bosnian travel documents by misusing the personal details of an equal number of BiH citizens. Some of these individuals regularly face inconveniences when crossing borders, as the electronic border control system identifies them as criminals wanted on red notices.

In the village of Bački Brestovac in Serbia, CIN journalists found three Bosnian citizens whose identities had been abused.  Their families had relocated to Bačka from Bijelo Bučje, a village near Teslić, just before the war, and started a new life there. Although they retained Bosnian citizenship, none of them had ever applied for Bosnian travel documents.

Predrag Đurđević started a new life in Bačka ravnica in the 1990s, where he set up a dairy farm.  He says he has never taken out a Bosnian passport nor travelled abroad, partly because he fears facing problems at the border.

“You know how it is, proving your case to someone.  It’s unpleasant, and you never know where you might end up,” said Đurđević.

In 2020, Ratko Živković stole his personal details to forge a passport. Živković is listed in Serbia’s criminal records for murder, violence, and drug trafficking.  According to the indictment in Belgrade, this Serbian national was the main organizer of several murders on behalf of the Kavač clan. Predrag’s identity was needed because an international arrest warrant had been issued for him.

Đurđević says he is not afraid because the murderer used his identity, but he feels embarrassed for his family, as the police had been asking about whether he was a fraudster.

His relative and neighbour in the village, Đurađ Trivunović, is going through a real nightmare at the border due to identity theft. The identity of this farmer from Bačka was stolen for the purpose of issuing a Bosnian passport to Dejan Pavlović, a member of the Škaljari clan from Belgrade and a convicted drug dealer.

Trivunović experienced a major inconvenience for the first time at the end of August 2022, when he tried to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina with his wife’s family at the Šamac border crossing.

“They told me to wait for the control, so I waited,” says Trivunović, adding that a border police officer then approached him and informed him that he was on Interpol’s red notice.

His mother recalls that the check lasted for two hours: “My blood pressure went up.  The man tried to calm me down, saying, ‘Sorry, I know you’re a mother, I know this is not easy for you.’  And on top of that, the baby was crying.  Holding the baby in the sun…  It was even harder because of the child.”

After the verification, it was confirmed that Đurađ was not the criminal the police had been looking for, and they were able to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina without further issues. However, two days later, Trivunović experienced another inconvenience when returning to Serbia.

“And again, the same thing. When I return and hand over my passport, it turns red again,” he said.

After returning to Serbia, he contacted the criminal police in Brčko to report the issue, and says they promised him that he would no longer be detained at the border.

“They told me, ‘We’ve removed you from that list, and you won’t have any problems anymore.’  And I accepted that. But after a year, I went again, and it was the same again,” Trivunović told the journalists.

He had to hire a lawyer who secured a confirmation from the criminal police in Brčko so that he could cross the border without further issues.

However, he is not convinced that this has resolved his problem.

“And again, it’s not clean, it’s still not certain that I’ve been removed from the wanted list,” says Trivunović.

International Killers Armed with Bosnian Passports