Using Stolen Identities, Balkan Gangsters Armed Themselves With Bosnian Passports

The report details how members of rival Montenegrin crime clans Kavač and Škaljari obtained fraudulent Bosnian passports via corrupt facilitators in Banja Luka and Brčko, notably former police officer Dalibor Ćurlik and intermediary Nikola Vein. Using false residence registrations, stolen identities, forged IDs, and guided applications, the network produced multiple passports, with Vein allegedly charging about €5,000 each. The scheme enabled travel and concealment, including for Milan Živković, later sentenced to life in Turkey for organizing a high-profile assassination, while several participants were captured on surveillance and arrested, with at least 12 passports issued in 2020 and multiple seizures and extraditions following.