Montenegro: 13.5 tonnes of tobacco seized in illegal Grbe warehouse

Montenegro police discovered 13.5 tonnes of loose tobacco, several processing machines and raw materials for cigarette packaging inside an illegally built warehouse in the village of Grbe near Danilovgrad.

Investigators link the site to a fugitive wanted for organised crime

The warehouse stood on land registered to Nikšić resident Aleksandar Mrkić, for whom an international arrest warrant has been issued on suspicion of creating a criminal organization, money laundering and smuggling, the Montenegrin Police Directorate said.

Mrkić, a fugitive on INTERPOL’s wanted list, has for more than a decade been identified by investigators as an important link in the so-called Mojkovac clan.

Police teams spent two days cataloguing the seized tobacco, machinery and other equipment stored at the site. Because of the types of machines and materials found, investigators believe the premises were used not only for storage but also for processing, packing and preparing tobacco for manufacture into cigarettes destined for the illegal market.

Authorities said the discovery is part of ongoing efforts to dismantle organised smuggling networks that operate across the region and feed illicit cigarette markets.

Further procedural and forensic work is underway to establish the full scale of the operation and to identify other people involved.

Photo: press material from the event