Serbia to Hold Suspected Gangster for 60 Days

A Special Court in Belgrade has placed an alleged drugs baron who surrendered to the authorities on Monday after more than four years on the run in custody for 60 days.

Darko Saric was placed in custody because of the danger that he might flee, concern that he could commit another crime if allowed to remain at liberty, suspicion that the case involved a serious crime and the fact that he has previous convictions, the court said.

The court accepted the proposal from the Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime to place Saric in custody also because the prescribed sentence for the crimes of which he is suspected is over 10 years.

Saric faces a 15-year prison sentence if found guilty of running a cocaine trafficking ring.

Saric, who has been on the run since 2010, was flown in to Belgrade airport from the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, on Tuesday, and taken to the special prosecutor's office for organised crime. It is not yet clear where he was detained.

Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the government received a proposal from Saric's lawyer for Saric to surrender. The only condition was that he be allowed a half-hour meeting with his family at the international zone of Podgorica airport.

The trial against Saric and his accomplices for cocaine trafficking will continue before the Special Court for Organized Crime on March 24, when it will announced whether he is going to present his defence or ask for more time to prepare it.

The US congratulated the Serbian and Montenegrin governments on the arrest, which was carried out in cooperation with several other governments, the US embassy in Belgrade said on Tuesday.

The embassy said Washington respected "the determination and persistence...