Slovenian cell of infamous Montenegrin drug cartel punished over cocaine theft murders

Three members of the Slovenian cell of the infamous Montenegrin drug cartel Kavač Clan have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the 2019 murder and attempted murder, allegedly committed in retaliation for the theft of €1 million worth of cocaine.

The Klemen and Blaž Kadivec brothers and Bojan Stanojević were found guilty of the killing of 35-year-old Danijel Božić and the attempted murder of blind Žarko Tešanović, as the Ljubljana District Court declared its judgement, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Klemen Kadivec, described by prosecutors as the head of the Slovenian affiliate of the Kavač Clan, received the heaviest sentence of 28 years in prison for orchestrating the plan to kill Božić and eliminate Tešanović.

His brother Blaž was sentenced to 25 years, while Stanojević, who according to prosecutors travelled to Slovenia to carry out the killing, was sentenced to 19 years.

All three have prior convictions on drug-related or violent crimes linked to their work for the Kavač Clan, one of the most ruthless and powerful organised crime groups in the Balkans.

Three other defendants, who prosecutors claimed had played minor roles, were acquitted. The prosecution plans to appeal the acquittals and is considering to get the guilty verdict ruling reviewed in a bid to get harsher sentences.

Abduction in Ankaran

The high-profile trial, conducted under tight security measures, concluded after more than a year of hearings. Prosecutors filed the indictment in July 2024, with the main proceedings beginning in January 2025.

According to prosecutors, members of the Slovenian cell of the Kavač Clan devised a criminal plan to abduct and kill Božić and Tešanović as part of an internal dispute within the organisation.

The two men were ambushed on 15 November 2019 in the coastal town of Ankaran. Tešanović was rescued by police as witnesses saw him being attacked by two of the defendants, while Božić was captured and later killed. Police discovered his body two weeks later buried in a wooded area in the Gorenjska region.

Prosecutors argued the killing was likely triggered by the disappearance of around €1.5 million worth of cocaine from a warehouse used by the Slovenian branch of the Kavač Clan in the same area.

The stolen drugs allegedly led to the murders of two more men the cartel held responsible, one in Spain in 2019, and another one in Ljubljana in January 2023.

The Kavač Clan, originating from the Montenegrin town of Kotor, has been linked by investigators across the Balkans and Europe to large-scale drug trafficking and violent retaliatory killings tied to rival organised crime groups.

Photo: Bojan Kralj/STA