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The five people arrested on June 9 in Kosovo, as part of an international police operation, are suspected of being part of a network that trafficked drugs from South America and the Middle East, towards Kosovo and the European Union countries. The investigation into the case began with messages decoded in the Sky ECC application. Radio Free Europe has obtained details from the Prosecution's investigations.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Kosovo Police, in cooperation with the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office and European police authorities, made five arrests in an operation spread across five Kosovo cities.
The action began in pursuit of a group suspected of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Called "White Star", the operation had as its main evidence the data provided by the Sky ECC platform, the communications in which were decrypted by European authorities in 2021.
According to the Special Prosecution's file, which Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has seen, the suspects have participated since the beginning of 2019 in the activities of an organized criminal group that dealt with the "unauthorized purchase, possession, distribution and sale of narcotics."
The Prosecution's document states that the group is suspected of trafficking cocaine from South American countries; heroin from Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey; as well as marijuana from Albania, North Macedonia and Spain.
"In Kosovo, members of this criminal group mix narcotics with bicarbonate of soda and other additives to increase weight, then package the same using a pressure machine and place the narcotics by camouflaging them in various products," the Prosecution document states.
According to the Prosecution, the drugs were then transported through shipping companies to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Switzerland, and other European Union countries.
In addition to drug trafficking, the five arrested are also suspected of money laundering.
According to the Prosecution, they are suspected of "transferring the profits obtained from criminal activity to various businesses, founded by the suspects themselves or people close to them."
Part of the assets, according to the document, were converted into movable and immovable property, including land, houses, apartments and cars.
The arrest of the suspects was supported by the EU law enforcement agency, Europol, and by authorities in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
According to Europol, the criminal group operated from Kosovo, while its members coordinated international drug trafficking, and managed the laundering of illegal profits in several European countries.
In the announcement of the action to capture the suspects, Europol said that since the beginning of the investigations (linked to the Sky ECC platform), 42 people have been investigated, 76 checks have been carried out and assets with a total estimated value of around 80 million euros have been seized.
According to the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office, the activity of those arrested yesterday is linked to a case previously investigated during 2025, in the operation called "Broken Sky".
In a December announcement last year, the Prosecutor's Office announced that 33 people were in custody, on suspicion of drug trafficking, money laundering and other illegal acts.
Special prosecutor Fatos Ajvazi told Radio Free Europe that the five arrested on June 9 are not considered leaders of the suspected criminal structure.
"At least, so far, nothing like that has resulted. These are members of groups that we already have in custody," Ajvazi announced.
According to him, the main evidence in this case was the communications provided by the decrypted Sky ECC platform.
"(The Sky ECC communications) were the main evidence, but we also linked them to other evidence," he said.
Ajvazi explained that the messages were initially received by Europol, and then secured through international legal cooperation by French authorities.
He added that from the investigations so far, including last year's cases, a freezing measure has been placed on assets worth 80 million euros.
According to the prosecutor, the people arrested in Kosovo have carried out their activities mainly within the country, but have also had activities abroad.
The case against the five most recent arrests, and that against the suspects arrested earlier, continues to be in the investigation phase.
While there is still no indictment for the five suspects arrested on Tuesday, the court is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to remand them in custody./ REL
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