US Sanctions Bosnia’s Former Intelligence Chief for ‘Corruption’

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, extended the list of sanctioned individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, slapping sanctions on a former chief of the Intelligence Security Agency, Osman "Osmica" Mehmedagic and two others. 

The OFAC said Mehmedagic abused the state-owned telecommunications company thanks to the position he held, for "the benefit of Party of Democratic Action, SDA," the biggest Bosniak party in the country, using cellular data to follow the movements of politicians not affiliated with the SDA. 

"Additionally, Mehmedagic has used his position, threats, and connections to sway candidates from "Osmorka" ("Eight"), a group of Bosniak and civic parties from BiH, to support the SDA," OFAC stated.

"There is also credible information that Mehmedagic has collaborated with criminal networks to enrich himself and his political party," it continued. Mehmedagic was replaced on February 23. 

Edin Gacanin "Tito", leader of the notorious Tito and Dino cartel and "one of the world's most prolific drug traffickers," was also added to the list of sanctioned individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

"In addition to narcotics trafficking efforts across multiple countries, Gacanin's cartel is involved in money laundering and is closely linked to the Kinahan Organized Crime Group," OFAC stated.

It added that the sanctions against Gacanin "were coordinated closely with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), and the governments of The Netherlands, France, and Belgium".

For undermining the 1995 Dayton peace accords, which ended the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, the US has also slapped sanctions on Dragan...