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Montenegro’s tourist jewel riven by drug gang feuds

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With its winding cobbled streets and stunning Adriatic bay, the Montenegrin town of Kotor draws crowds of visitors each summer.

But deadly gang violence threatens to cloud the tourist boom.

Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past week after a string of public shootouts between rival drug-trafficking clans.

"Kotor is a hostage town," Montenegro's Interior Minister Goran Danilovic told reporters after the special forces were sent into the Balkan resort last weekend.

"Kotor has to stop being centre of clashes between criminal gangs."

According to police sources, Kotor's main drugs cartel split into three feuding gangs in 2014 over the disappearance of 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of South American cocaine in the Spanish town of Valencia.

Their quarrels have led to at least five murders in the past year across the region -- and at least four murder attempts in the past two months in Kotor, all of them in public places.

The latest on June 3 -- although there were no casualties -- pushed the authorities to deploy an anti-terrorist unit that has nearly 70 members, the police sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The town is in a drugs hell, left to criminals," said 52-year-old Mladen, working in an art gallery in the town centre.

Like most local residents who spoke to AFP, he was afraid to give his full name because of the tensions in the small community.

"I fear for the future of my two sons," he said, complaining that authorities "do nothing" to stop rampant crime.

- Lonely Planet's top city -

The heightened security comes as Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gears up for a bumper tourist season.

Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past we...
Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past week after a string of public shootouts between rival drug-trafficking clans
STR, AFP

Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet, and tourism officials expect up to a million visitors this year.

Many of them arrive on cruise ships carrying up to 3,000 people, and the restaurants, churches and museums behind the 12th-century walls are already filling up.

For now, the police presence is subtle: an AFP reporter saw one black armoured vehicle parked at the entrance to the old town, about 20 metres from anchored cruise liners.

But some locals are worried the security forces could turn off holiday-makers.

"I'm afraid that sending them only few weeks before the start of the tourist season will damage it," said Branko, a 55-year-old former sailor, sitting in a cafe in the old town.

With nearly 850,000 visitors last year, making it the country's top tourist destination, Kotor sums up the Montenegrin dilemma: a growing tourism sector under the threat of powerful organised crime.

The nation of fewer than 650,000 people is a candidate for European Union membership, but the EU's progress report on Montenegro last year said "further efforts are needed, in particular to investigate wider criminal networks and to counter money laundering".

- From sailing to trafficking -

Kotor has a rich seafaring history and was once home to successful shipping company Jugooceanija, which fell apart with the break up of Yugoslavia.

Some out-of-work sailors are thought to have subsequently got involved in lucrative cocaine trafficking.

The sense of impunity among Kotor's criminal gangs today is such that they installed surveillance cameras around town to control each other's movements -- something a prosecutor is now investigating.

Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet  and touris...
Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet, and tourism officials expect up to a million visitors this year
Savo Prelevic, AFP

Balkans "cocaine king" Darko Saric, who was jailed for 20 years by a Serbian court last year, had several companies in Kotor including a nightclub popular with tourists, according to local media.

Foreign visitors who spoke to AFP expressed little awareness of Kotor's darker side.

Canadian cruise-goer Claire Tremblay, 58, said she had chosen Montenegro over Istanbul owing to recent terrorist attacks in Turkey.

"Now we see that we got a bonus. Kotor and the Adriatic Sea are beautiful," she said.

Kotor's Mayor Aleksandar Stjepcevic said the situation had improved since the special police arrived, but he regretted that his town had become "the scene of clashes" between gangs.

"I am disappointed that such scenes became part of everyday life. They should not be a characteristic of this ancient town," he said.

With its winding cobbled streets and stunning Adriatic bay, the Montenegrin town of Kotor draws crowds of visitors each summer.

But deadly gang violence threatens to cloud the tourist boom.

Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past week after a string of public shootouts between rival drug-trafficking clans.

“Kotor is a hostage town,” Montenegro’s Interior Minister Goran Danilovic told reporters after the special forces were sent into the Balkan resort last weekend.

“Kotor has to stop being centre of clashes between criminal gangs.”

According to police sources, Kotor’s main drugs cartel split into three feuding gangs in 2014 over the disappearance of 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of South American cocaine in the Spanish town of Valencia.

Their quarrels have led to at least five murders in the past year across the region — and at least four murder attempts in the past two months in Kotor, all of them in public places.

The latest on June 3 — although there were no casualties — pushed the authorities to deploy an anti-terrorist unit that has nearly 70 members, the police sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The town is in a drugs hell, left to criminals,” said 52-year-old Mladen, working in an art gallery in the town centre.

Like most local residents who spoke to AFP, he was afraid to give his full name because of the tensions in the small community.

“I fear for the future of my two sons,” he said, complaining that authorities “do nothing” to stop rampant crime.

– Lonely Planet’s top city –

The heightened security comes as Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gears up for a bumper tourist season.

Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past we...

Dozens of anti-terrorist police officers have descended on the medieval fortress town in the past week after a string of public shootouts between rival drug-trafficking clans
STR, AFP

Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet, and tourism officials expect up to a million visitors this year.

Many of them arrive on cruise ships carrying up to 3,000 people, and the restaurants, churches and museums behind the 12th-century walls are already filling up.

For now, the police presence is subtle: an AFP reporter saw one black armoured vehicle parked at the entrance to the old town, about 20 metres from anchored cruise liners.

But some locals are worried the security forces could turn off holiday-makers.

“I’m afraid that sending them only few weeks before the start of the tourist season will damage it,” said Branko, a 55-year-old former sailor, sitting in a cafe in the old town.

With nearly 850,000 visitors last year, making it the country’s top tourist destination, Kotor sums up the Montenegrin dilemma: a growing tourism sector under the threat of powerful organised crime.

The nation of fewer than 650,000 people is a candidate for European Union membership, but the EU’s progress report on Montenegro last year said “further efforts are needed, in particular to investigate wider criminal networks and to counter money laundering”.

– From sailing to trafficking –

Kotor has a rich seafaring history and was once home to successful shipping company Jugooceanija, which fell apart with the break up of Yugoslavia.

Some out-of-work sailors are thought to have subsequently got involved in lucrative cocaine trafficking.

The sense of impunity among Kotor’s criminal gangs today is such that they installed surveillance cameras around town to control each other’s movements — something a prosecutor is now investigating.

Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet  and touris...

Kotor was named the top city in the world to visit in 2016 by travel guide Lonely Planet, and tourism officials expect up to a million visitors this year
Savo Prelevic, AFP

Balkans “cocaine king” Darko Saric, who was jailed for 20 years by a Serbian court last year, had several companies in Kotor including a nightclub popular with tourists, according to local media.

Foreign visitors who spoke to AFP expressed little awareness of Kotor’s darker side.

Canadian cruise-goer Claire Tremblay, 58, said she had chosen Montenegro over Istanbul owing to recent terrorist attacks in Turkey.

“Now we see that we got a bonus. Kotor and the Adriatic Sea are beautiful,” she said.

Kotor’s Mayor Aleksandar Stjepcevic said the situation had improved since the special police arrived, but he regretted that his town had become “the scene of clashes” between gangs.

“I am disappointed that such scenes became part of everyday life. They should not be a characteristic of this ancient town,” he said.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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