Montenegrin organized crime groups have risen through the criminal underworld to become key components of the global cocaine trade. From Latin America to global shipping, and from ports to European markets, they control the entire chain.

But with such a lucrative trade comes violence. Over the last decade, several dozen Montenegrins and Serbians have been killed across Europe in a bloody feud between two criminal groups - the Škaljari clan and the Kavač Clan, both originating from the small Adriatic town of Kotor.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Montenegro ranks 5th in terms of criminality out of 44 countries in Europe, with the cocaine trade being it’s most prevalent criminal market at a score of 7 out of 10.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers:

Marko Vešović, Journalist & Editor of the daily newspaper DAN Montenegro, and member of the GI Network.

Links:

(GI Video) Montenegro's Cocaine War: Rival Clans, Illicit Markets, and Assassinations

(GI Paper) Spot Prices: Analyzing flows of people, drugs and money in the Western Balkans

(GI Paper) The cocaine pipeline to Europe

Škaljari clan

Kavač Clan

OC Index Country profiles:

Montenegro

The Global Organized Crime Index

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime