Police special forces arrested three men in Ljubljana on 5 December after a mafia-style execution of a Bosnian national connected with organised crime sent shockwaves through the country.

The arrests came six days after a man identified as Satko Zovko (earlier known as Satko Kekić) was shot in his car on the western edge of the city.

He is reported to have been a witness in court proceedings against members of a criminal cartel from Montenegro known as the Škaljari Clan.

At a press conference, Police Commissioner Senad Jušić did not reveal the identities of the persons arrested beyond saying that one was sought with an international arrest warrant and that "it appears criminal gangs were involved".

Arrested man Škaljari Clan figurehead

Multiple media reports say one of the suspects is 38-year-old Dino Muzaferović, a member of the Škaljari Clan from Montenegro sought in multiple countries for drug trafficking.

Muzaferović, nicknamed Cazar, is the chief defendant in upcoming court proceedings against Balkan drug traffickers in Germany and Zovko was supposed to testify against him.

A report in Večer suggests he was released from detention in Germany, which appears to have ignored the existence of a European arrest warrant that Croatia has issued.

Married to a Slovenian, he is reported to have lived in the country for a while, just like his victim, who was in Slovenia despite being warned that he was in danger.

A Serbian news report suggests the victim was originally in the Škaljari Clan just like the chief suspect, but after a dispute with Dino Muzaferović he joined the Kavač Clan.

The two clans are in a bitter dispute and several murders in the Balkans over the last few years are attributed to inter-clan violence.

Balkan cartels a major concern

The Škaljari Clan and the Kavač Clan, specialising in drug trafficking, weapons smuggling and money laundering, are among the most powerful criminal organisations in the Balkans and the Kavač Clan in particular has been very active in Slovenia.

A massive trial is currently under way in Ljubljana at which more than a dozen members of the Slovenian cell of the Kavač Clan face drug trafficking charges after they were busted by Slovenian police in early 2023 in cooperation with Austrian law enforcement.

They are charged with having purchased and sold at least 534 kilograms of cocaine, two tonnes of cannabis, and at least ten kilograms of heroin and other drugs between December 2018 and May 2021 in several countries, netting them at least €6 million.

In the course of the trial, two men were arrested for plotting to murder police informant who has become a protected witness, but the Maribor District Court recently dropped the case arguing that the pair at most engaged in preparatory activities for the murder and that this is not a crime in itself.

Four members of the clan are on trial on separate charges for murdering a former associate and attempting to murder another one for stealing drugs from the clan. Two have recently pleaded guilty and two are yet to make their pleas.

Another person allegedly related to the criminal cartel was murdered in Ljubljana in January 2023, but the police investigation into that case is still ongoing.