ZAGREB, January 19, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ party leader Andrej Plenković said in Split on Saturday that the competent agencies would step up the fight against drug dealers and people involved in organised crime, and in a comment on coming intraparty elections, he said that he expected fair conduct from all candidates.

"We will step up activities that concern legal security. We will change laws if necessary, step up the fight against those who are involved in drug dealing and organised crime and who turn young people into delinquents," Plenković said at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the HDZ branch in Split.

Plenković said this in the context of last week's murder of three drug dealers by a 25-year-old man in Split.

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ZAGREB, December 9, 2019 - Under an agreement with representatives of institutions of all the countries that participated in Operation Familia and Eurojust, criminal proceedings against people who smuggled 600 kilograms of cocaine from South America to Europe and the Middle East should be conducted mostly in Croatia, the Croatian anti-corruption agency USKOK said on Monday.

Croatia is in the best position to prosecute the organised criminal group whose members, including a Croatian national, were arrested in July while transporting 600 kilograms of cocaine, it was decided at a meeting at Eurojust, which was attended, along with USKOK officials, by Czech, Italian, French and Swiss prosecutors.

During this international operation, Montenegrin national Michael Dokovich, Czech national Ales Skolnik and Croatian national Silvio Beljević were arrested in Basel on July 13 and were extradited to Croatia in November. The three men are charged, together with five other persons, with conspiracy to smuggle drugs, abuse of authority, document forgery and illegal possession of weapons.

Dokovich is charged with forming a criminal group which smuggled large quantities of cocaine aboard jet planes from South America to Europe and the Middle East. Dokovich was born in Podgorica as Iljmija Frključić. He has used numerous pseudonyms since and was under investigation by US security services several times.

US media have reported about Dokovich several times, saying that he was one of the first people in the USA who committed computer fraud, and he was also brought into connection with a group responsible for arson, insurance and bank fraud, theft of postal parcels, drug smuggling and robberies of jeweller's stores.

After the transfer of the three accused from Switzerland, Croatia now has in its custody five accused in the case. The search is still underway for two more persons from Serbia and a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia has launched the procedure to transfer prosecutorial activities in the case to Croatia. Criminal proceedings are also under way in the Czech Republic against the Czech national, the remaining member of the criminal group, who was arrested in that country.

Operation Familia was carried out by Croatian authorities in cooperation with the relevant institutions of the Czech Republic, Serbia, Switzerland and France. Slovenia, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as Italy contributed to the investigation.

The implementation of this complex operation has resulted in the confiscation of one million euro in cash as well as luxury items worth several hundred thousand euro, found in Dokovich's car and house in Zagreb's Šestine neighbourhood. Owing to the results of the operation, an additional 421 kilograms of cocaine were found and confiscated in Hong Kong.

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ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - The parliamentary Health and Social Policy Committee on Thursday discussed an annual report on drug abuse in the European Union presented two days ago in Brussels, which indicates that drug abuse is on the rise in the European Union and in Croatia too.

A special guest at today's meeting was the director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Alexis Goosdeel who said that the situation was concerning due to an increased presence of all drugs, both natural and synthetic, on the European market, as well as due to an increase in violence and drug related deaths.

Croatia has an important role in cooperating with eastern European countries where activities are increasing by criminal groups that import drugs directly from South America, said Goosdeel.

In the past 5 to 10 years the increased consumption of drugs is estimated at 30 billion euro a year and production is growing by 30% to 35%.

Croatia is still below the EU average regarding drug consumption and has been investing in prevention and treatment of drug-addicts, however it needs to prepare for the emergence of new drugs. Last year alone, 55 new drugs were identified as well as greater accessibility to cocaine, the director of the Croatian Institute for Public Health Željko Petković said.

The parliamentary health committee chairwoman, MP Ines Strenja, underscored that last year Croatia had a record year in successfully confiscating quantities of cocaine, adding however that a national plan to combat drug abuse 2018-2025 has still not been adopted.

"It is up to the Health Ministry to urgently put the plan up for e-consultation and into procedure so that it can finally be adopted," she said.

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ZAGREB, June 26, 2019 - The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) on Wednesday reported that drug addicts are getting older and that they mostly consume marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines and that the highest number of people being treated for drugs can be found in Zadar and Istria counties.

"The situation in Europe, which has become the leading market for heroin and cocaine, has reflected on Croatia too. We have an increased consumption of cocaine, amphetamines - ecstasy and marijuana which is all the more present as about 70% of confiscated drugs are in fact marijuana," HZJZ assistant director Željko Petković told a press conference on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking has been marked since 1987 when the UN decided to warn of the problem of drug abuse and the need for active involvement of all stakeholders in the prevention of drug abuse at the global and national levels.

"The problem of drugs goes beyond the health sector and without the cooperation of the judiciary, interior ministry and social welfare system the public health system cannot do a lot," HZJZ's Ivana Pavić Simetin said.

Data from the national register of people being treated for abuse of psycho-active drugs which have been present in Croatia since 1978, indicate that in 2018 there were 6,831 people under treatment which is less when compared to 2010 when that number was 7,550.

Pavić Simetin underscored that people undergoing treatment are growing older and so in 2018 their average age was 38.1 whereas in 2010 the average age was 32.2, however the youngest user registered was 14 and the oldest was aged 73.

There are fewer new drug addicts while the share of male drug addicts is four times higher than for women. Of those being treated, the majority of them have secondary school qualifications, they are unemployed and live with their parents while analyses indicate that the highest number of those being treated are in Zadar and Istria counties followed by Šibenik-Knin and then the City of Zagreb.

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ZAGREB, February 22, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović confirmed on Friday that she had signed her decision to pardon Huanito Lukšetić, a man who suffers from multiple sclerosis and who has been sentenced to two years in prison for illegally growing marijuana for sale.

The president said in an interview with national radio that her office had informed the Justice Ministry and Lukšetić 's legal counsel of her decision.

The trial court ruling was upheld late last month.

Lukšetić insists that he has been cultivating marijuana to get cannabis oil which alleviates the pain and consequences of MS.

As soon as L Lukšetić 's verdict became final, two hundred people rallied in the northern coastal city of Rijeka to support him. The parliamentary opposition party Živi Zid also demanded that the president pardon him.

Following the public outcry, the president announced that she would pardon Lukšetić.

In November 2017, the municipal court in Rijeka found him guilty of growing marijuana and of possessing 15 kilos of that plant in his house. The verdict said that such amount actually surpassed his personal needs for alleviation of the disease's symptoms. Lukšetić grew cannabis in his year in the village of Bregi on the slopes of Mount Učka overlooking Rijeka. In the same case, Goran Zakrajšek was given 10 months in prison and his conviction was also upheld.

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ZAGREB, February 15, 2019 - At least 20.3% of respondents have used illegal drugs at least once in their life, and the most common illegal drug in Croatia is cannabis, according to findings of a study which were discussed in parliament on Friday during a debate on a report on the implementation of the national strategy for the prevention of the use of illegal drugs in 2017.

"In 2017, a total of 7,157 persons were treated for drug abuse, in the healthcare system, a slight rise of 0.7% compared to 2016," said Health Ministry State Secretary Tomislav Dulibić who presented the findings of the study and the report.

Of those 7,157 treated persons, 80% of them used opiates, and non-opiate addiction covered 1,384 patients, which was 20% rise, he said.

During the debate, lawmaker Ines Strenja of the MOST party warned that over 200,000 people had problems in connection with the use of alcohol, and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that about a hundred associations for rehabilitated alcoholics had been shut down.

She also warned about the appearance of 51 new psychoactive substances in the European Union, whereas in Croatia 21 smart shops were still operating.

Strenja also pointed out that Croatia was still spending more on rehabilitation than on prevention of alcohol abuse.

In terms of the alcohol consumption, Croatia ranks almost at the top of European countries with 12.8 litres of pure alcohol per capita annually, she said.

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) MP, Ivan Ćelić, said that as long as the HDZ government was in power, there would be no legalisation of cannabis for recreational purposes.

More news on the health issues in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

According to a statement issued by USKOK (Office for Suppressing Corruption and Organised Crime), one American and one Nigerian were arrested in Zagreb for cocaine smuggling, reports Index.hr on November 1, 2018.

In the period from mid-September to 30 October, the two of them were associated with several persons from abroad for the purpose of purchasing, transporting and smuggling cocaine into Croatia. According to USKOK, their intention was to use the cocaine to pay for a large quantity of firearms and ammunition in the territory of Croatia.

Following the instructions of organisers and other members of the criminal organization, the two men purchased the cocaine in the African state of Mali and hid it in a jet plane owned by a company whose business operations are run by the arrested American. Then they used the plane to bring the cocaine from Mali from Zagreb.

During the search of the aircraft, a kilogram of high-quality cocaine was found, said the USKOK, adding that the prosecutors have proposed to the investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court to detain the two drug smugglers during the investigation.

The police releases footage of cocaine found in the plane

This morning, the police announced further details about the operation, as well as video footage from the plane. “Police officers of the National Police Office for Suppressing Corruption and Organised Crime, in coordination with the Office for Suppressing Corruption and Organised Crime, have completed the criminal investigation operation called Nexus, aimed at suppressing international drugs and weapons trade.

During the criminal investigation, a 56-year-old United States citizen and a 55-year-old Nigerian citizen were arrested on Tuesday at the Zagreb international airport. They arrived at the Zagreb airport in an airplane owned by the 56-year-old American, who also operated the plane, while the 55-year-old Nigerian was a co-pilot.

Based on a warrant issued by the competent court, police officers searched the aircraft and found a package with more than one kilogram of high-quality cocaine, more precisely 1,190 grams of cocaine. It is suspected that the two men were joined by organisers into a criminal organization in order to, in accordance with their instructions, acquire cocaine in Mali and bring it to Zagreb, where it was supposed to be exchanged for a large quantity of firearms and ammunition.

At the end of the criminal investigation against the two men, criminal charges have been filed with the USKOK for suspicion of committing a criminal offense as part of a criminal association with regard to unauthorized production and trafficking of drugs,” the police said.

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ZAGREB, April 7, 2018 - Slovenia on Friday extradited to Croatia Stjepan Prnjat, a Croatian national suspected of smuggling cocaine from South America, according to unofficial reports.

ZAGREB, March 30, 2018 - A Slovenian court has rejected an appeal by Stjepan Prnjat, a Croatian citizen accused of drug smuggling, against a ruling by Ljubljana County Court that he should be extradited to Croatia, Prnjat's defence attorney Luka Fabiani said on Friday.

ZAGREB, March 21, 2018 - A Ljubljana court has granted Croatia's request for the extradition of Croatian national Stjepan Prnjat, who was arrested in Ljubljana in an international operation aimed at busting a drug smuggling ring from South America, but Prnjat's defence lawyer announced an appeal which will prolong the procedure of his extradition to Croatia.