Shadow of the mountain: organized crime around the Jahorina winter resort.

Jahorina, 28 kilometres from Sarajevo, is known as the mountain where the 1984 Winter Olympic Games took place. It is a popular ski resort; tourists even flocked to its slopes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2020–2021. But the area around Jahorina also seems to attract criminals, most recently on 12 February 2021 when three members of the Škaljari clan were arrested in the town on suspicion of planning the assassination of the head of the rival Kavač clan. What makes the region a magnet for organized crime and corruption?

At first glance, it does not seem that Jahorina should be vulnerable to organized crime. The modern resort has a good reputation, well-maintained facilities and a proud history as an Olympic centre. But the very fact that the resort is considered a rare jewel in an economically depressed region seems to have made it attractive for corrupt officials as well as tourists.

Figure 1 The Jahorina region in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Investigative journalists have reported on irregularities in procurement, privatization, building and renovation processes in lucrative infrastructure projects in the region.¹ A great deal of public money – at least €55 million in the past five years – has also flowed into the area, not always in a transparent way.² It has been reported that local officials from the surrounding municipalities of Pale and East New Sarajevo, as well as officials from the government of the Republic of Srpska, have participated in the purchase of land and facilities, construction of infrastructure facilities (such as ski lifts) and the procurement of equipment for hotels.³ The region is also a magnet for foreign investment; some of the major construction projects are allegedly attractive for money laundering.⁴ It is perhaps no wonder that the municipalities of Pale and East New Sarajevo have been squabbling about who controls the lucrative tax revenues from Mount Jahorina.⁵

Investments and improvements in the Jahorina area are welcome because the region was devastated by the war of the 1990s, such as during the siege of Sarajevo. In the post-conflict environment, the area around Jahorina, including Pale, East New Sarajevo and Sokolac suffered from low socio-economic development, poor infrastructure and weak governance. This, combined with relatively difficult terrain, made the region vulnerable to organized crime, both home-grown and as a place for criminals (including war criminals) to hide out or plan their operations in the region.

This seems to have had some nasty side effects. Between 1998 and 2008, there were 14 murders in the Jahorina region, most of which were suspected to be the result of disputes among criminals, but few of which have been resolved. Not only were a number of senior law enforcement officials killed in the region in that decade, but there were also several professional-style hits on civilians.⁶

Recent arrests show that the Jahorina region remains a magnet for criminals. In July 2020, a man named Nikola Ivović from Montenegro was arrested in Pale on suspicion of having committed a murder in Herceg Novi.⁷ In August 2020, police in East Sarajevo arrested a man believed to be a member of the Škaljari clan, along with five other citizens from Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.⁸ In March 2021, Slobodan Milutinović (known as ‘Slobo the Sniper’) from Novi Sad, Serbia, was arrested in Jahorina.⁹ And, as noted, on 12 February 2021 three members of the Škaljari clan were arrested for planning the assassination of a leading figure of the rival Kavač clan, Radoje Zvicer (who had survived an assassination attempt in Kyiv in May 2020). Zvicer was supposedly on holiday with his family at the ski resort.

There are other indications of criminal activity in the region. On several occasions, police have seized weapons and drugs in raids in Pale and East Sarajevo.¹⁰ And in 2018, a man was arrested for facilitating the theft of weapons from the barracks of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Pale. According to the indictment, the man, who worked at the barracks, took 27 optical scopes for rifles and two suppressors and sold them to members of criminal groups near Sokolac.¹¹

Since 2004, several organized criminal groups have developed in the area, particularly around East Sarajevo. They have been involved in car theft, trafficking in drugs and extortion. As their wealth, power and reputations grew, they manged to launder their money into the local economy and use their power to influence local politicians, members of the police and the media. A number of well-coordinated law enforcement operations, code-named Jahorina, Kargo and Lutka, resulted in breaking up several organized criminal groups in 2013.¹²

The ecosystem of crime and corruption around Jahorina shows the legacy of the recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the temptation of corruption. But it also illustrates the evolution of crime in the country; from regions of post-conflict instability to an ecosystem of organized corruption where political, business and criminal actors rub shoulders. Unlike in the 1990s, the Jahorina region now seems to be a place where high-profile criminals like to hang out rather than to hide out – and where corrupt officials want to invest, rather than neglect. One would hope that in the future this region could attract a less notorious clientele and recapture the positive attention and reputation that the Jahorina region enjoyed in 1984 during the Winter Olympic Games.

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