Montenegrin president urges action after latest mafia killing

BELGRADE, Serbia (AFP) — Montenegro’s National Security Council was holding an emergency session on Thursday, a day after a double murder in the capital Podgorica, the third fatal mafia-like clash in less than half a year.

Two people were killed Wednesday afternoon in a shooting on the outskirts of Podgorica when attackers opened fire on their car.

“At least two individuals participated in this serious crime, firing multiple rounds from firearms towards the vehicle in which the now-deceased victims were located,” police announced on Thursday morning, adding that those killed “were members of an organized criminal group.”

Senior State Prosecutor Ana Kalezic stated that the murder was carried out with automatic weapons, and over 30 shell casings were found at the scene.

“The perpetrators of this crime have not been identified, and an active search for them is underway,” Kalezic added.

Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajic called an emergency session of the National Security Council for the afternoon, while President Jakov Milatovic called on the government for a stronger response.

“The increasing clashes among criminal groups are a red alert that a stronger response from the competent institutions is necessary to put an end to this and other acts of violence in the country,” wrote Milatovic on X.

Organized crime and corruption have plagued Montenegro, a Balkan Mediterranean country of 630,000 citizens, which has repeatedly pledged to tackle these scourges under pressure from the European Union in order to join the bloc.

In June, two people were killed and three injured when an explosive device was detonated near the entrance to a sports center in the southern Montenegrin city of Cetinje. Those killed were identified by the police as members of a criminal group, though one of the injured was a passerby caught by chance.

In the following days, Montenegro’s government vowed to crack down on organized crime.

But in late September, a man whom the police also identified as a member of a criminal group was killed in Cetinje — the former royal capital nestled in a mountainous valley — by a sniper while sitting in his yard.

“It’s time for the responsible authorities to stop focusing on self-promotion and start seriously working on the fight against crime,” the president stated after the latest murder.

The mafia clashes are believed to be linked to a decades-long conflict between two criminal gangs — “skaljari” and “kavaci.”

Both originate from the Montenegrin coastal town of Kotor and were part of the same group until 2014, when they split following the disappearance of 660 pounds of cocaine in Valencia, Spain.

The power struggle they have waged since then has claimed over 60 lives in Montenegro, the region — particularly Serbia — and across Europe.

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By Agence France-Presse