Darko Šarić case - key moments

Darko Šarić case - key moments

BELGRADE -- Alleged drug lord Darko Šarić first grabbed the headlines in October 2009 when the Uruguayan police seized 2.8 tons of cocaine at the port of Santiago Vazquez.

The cargo with cocaine was intercepted as part of the joint operation codenamed Balkan Warrior, which was carried out by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA) and the Uruguayan police.

The Belgrade police simultaneously arrested members of Šarić's gang in Serbia.

In January 2010, an international arrest warrant was issued for Darko Šarić.

In February 2010, the Montenegrin police department announced that Šarić, who was suspected of smuggling cocaine, had unlawfully left the territory of Montenegro several days before the Interpol bureau in Montenegro received the international arrest warrant.

Head of the Interpol National Central Bureau for Serbia Miloš Oparnica told the Belgrade-based broadcaster B92 on February 15, 2010 that police started dealing with Darko Šarić as early as in 2010 due to money laundering.

Oparnica said that at least 15 countries delivered to Serbia the information about the man who ran the biggest drug ring in this part of Europe - Darko Šarić.

On April 13, 2010, the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office issued an indictment against Šarić's gang.

The day after that, the then state secretary at the Ministry of Justice Slobodan Homen said that the key objective of the fight against drug kingpin Darko Šarić and other criminal gangs is shedding light on his collusion with certain officials from public companies, as well as state officials.

As the first step...