KOSOVO: Police arrest suspected crime boss Naser Kelmendi on an international arrest warrant

Record ID: 863964

  • Title: KOSOVO: Police arrest suspected crime boss Naser Kelmendi on an international arrest warrant
  • Date: 6th May 2013
  • Summary: PRISTINA, KOSOVO (MAY 6, 2013) (REUTERS) KOSOVO POLICE BUILDING SPECIAL POLICE GUARDING ENTRANCE PLAQUE READING: KOSOVO POLICE- STATION CENTRE- PRISTINA" KOSOVO POLICE SPOKESMAN BRAHIM SADRIA WALKING OUT OF BUILDING PLAQUE READING: "INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE" (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) KOSOVO POLICE SPOKESMAN, BRAHIM SADRIA, SAYING: "The arrested person that was on international warrant is Naser Kelmendi. Also, another person was arrested in this police raid, he is suspected to have aided the fugitive. The raid took place in the vicinity of Pristina, during the raid two houses that were used by these persons were searched." VARIOUS OF KOSOVO SPECIAL POLICEMEN NEAR DETENTION CENTRE SPECIAL POLICE GUARDING ENTRANCE
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kosovo
  • City:
  • Country: Kosovo
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAEES4SGZ18ILN4DSNND81F08PY
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Police in Kosovo have arrested Naser Kelmendi, suspected by the United States of trafficking drugs to Europe through the Balkans, on an international arrest warrant, police said on Monday (May 6).
    Police spokesman Brahim Sadria said Kelmendi and a second person were arrested on Sunday (May 5) and taken to a detention centre.

    "The arrested person that was on international warrant is Naser Kelmendi. Also, another person was arrested in this police raid, he is suspected to have aided the fugitive," Sadria told Reuters.
    He also said that said Kelmendi was arrested in Pristina.
    Kelmendi, 55, is a Kosovo-born Albanian with Bosnian citizenship who along with his sons and brother owns a number of businesses in Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, including hotels and a trucking company.
    In June 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama added him to a list of 97 drug lords who face U.S. sanctions under the U.S. Kingpin Act.
    Bosnian police raided his businesses last September and tried to arrest him during a swoop on organised crime but he fled and was reportedly hiding in Pristina. He has been investigated in Bosnia on 13 criminal charges but never brought to trial.
    Organised crime flourished in the Balkans during the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s, leaving a region awash with weapons and a transit route for drug traffickers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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