Who is “Sedi” – the key link between cocaine, arrested dealers, and the Serbian Embassy in Lisbon?

The Serbian Embassy in the Portuguese capital was considered a safe shelter for the drugs

The connection that the defendants accused of drug trafficking, former President of the Municipality of Budva Milo Božović and his associate Ivan Mijatović, had with individuals employed at the Serbian Embassy in Lisbon, which allegedly served as a safe haven during the transport of drugs, should be one of the main questions authorities need to answer. The person in question is someone they refer to in their messages as “Sedi.”

Now-arrested Božović and Mijatović discussed throughout 2020 how to extract 100 kilograms of cocaine that was expected to arrive in Lisbon aboard the ship MSC “Fantazija.” They spoke in detail about the plan via the Sky ECC application, and the newsroom of Podgorica-based Vijesti obtained messages indicating that the Serbian Embassy in the Portuguese capital was considered a safe shelter for the drugs.

The correspondence also suggests that the accused drug dealers, one of whom was a politician in Montenegro, had contact with embassy employees, allegedly connected to them by a certain “Sedi.”

Earlier that March, Božović had been connected with Mijatović by a member of a criminal organization whose nickname on one of the Sky ECC accounts was 444848, and whom both men addressed as “Sedi.”

Although the Special State Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro identified Mijatović as someone working for Božović, it also appears that Mijatović had strong social connections in Portugal, as well as a false identity and property there.

Mijatović owns a villa in Lisbon and, for five years, using a false identity, evaded justice despite being subject to an international arrest warrant, according to case files from the Montenegrin prosecution.

It is stated that from 2017 to 2022, while in hiding, he used the false identities Žarko Mlinarević and Srđan Kozlica.

According to the prosecution, Mijatović’s connections in Portugal helped him find associates who would extract the bags of cocaine from the ship “Fantazija” by throwing them into a smaller vessel that would approach the larger ship, and then transport the packages onward. This operation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. As seen from the messages, Mijatović’s option for keeping the drugs safe was the Serbian embassy. However, besides the drugs, another person was also supposed to be “extracted” from the ship.

He sent Božović photos of the ship that had docked in Lisbon harbor, from which the cocaine was to be extracted.

Mijatović also mentioned having trucks that could transport the “goods” three times a month to Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia.

The former head of Montenegro’s tourism capital, Milo Božović, is charged with trafficking three shipments of cocaine, one of which is this Lisbon operation. He has repeatedly denied the charges, claiming that a politically motivated case has been fabricated against him.

Beyond cocaine smuggling, the prosecution alleges that Božović, as a member of parliament and a member of the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defense, was tasked with collecting information and using it for the benefit of the criminal organization.

At the time Božović and Mijatović were arranging the drug delivery, the Serbian ambassador to Lisbon was Oliver Antić, who later died after falling from a cliff. He was a controversial figure, associated with the “Index” affair and the subject of a criminal complaint for alleged sexual abuse of his nine-year-old daughter. The complaint was filed by the girl’s mother, but the investigation never reached a conclusion, as Antić died in the meantime.

His death also sparked controversy in the Serbian public, as reports emerged suggesting he had committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, claims his family strongly denied, stating it was an accident.

At the time, Serbia’s Foreign Minister was the current Interior Minister, Ivica Dačić.