Ljubljana related
STA, 21 July 2022 - The Ljubljana District Court has found eight people guilty of drug trafficking and related criminal acts and sentenced them to a total of 28 years in prison. The ruling is not yet final, and the sentencing of the alleged leader of the ring has been postponed to autumn due to illness.
Jure Močnik, Branko Šćulija, Samir Velić, Anis Ličina, Jure Slaviček, Luka Korošec Lazić, Svetlan Stjepić and Jernej Kotnik were found guilty of unlawful manufacture and trade of narcotic drugs, illicit substances in sport and precursors to manufacture narcotic drugs as the court declared the ruling on Wednesday.
Stjepić and Šćulija received the highest sentences - seven and a half years in prison each, and a fine of EUR 10,000.
Ličina and Kotnik were sentenced to three years and a half years in prison each, with the former being also slapped with a EUR 7,000 fine, and the latter with a EUR 6,000 fine.
Slaviček and Močnik were sentenced to two and a half years in prison and got a EUR 5,000 fine each, while Korošec Lazić was sentenced to year and a half in prison and will have to pay a EUR 2,000 fine.
The panel of judges, chaired by Srečko Škerbec, found that it was a typical, hierarchically organised criminal ring that carefully checked undercover police officers, including the addresses of their residences, and photographed their documents.
In agreement with the undercover police officers, they planned to transport 30 kilos of cocaine from Ecuador to the Slovenian port of Koper and the Croatian port of Rijeka, but the scheme had not been fully implemented.
Ring members have been found guilty of trading in heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, hashish and amphetamines from September 2017 to January 2020 in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, to earn at least EUR 1.3 million.
A total of 33 people had been initially charged, and the trial has ended for 13 people, who did not immediately plead guilty. Five people have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The trial took place without the chief defendant, Aleš Zupančič, who fell ill a few weeks ago. His lawyer was expected to deliver closing arguments yesterday, but she had also fallen ill, so this part of the trial was postponed to the autumn.
STA, 17 March 2022 - All Slovenian cities are above the European average in the use of cannabis, an international study based on wastewater analysis for 2021 has shown. The highest concentration of cocaine biomarker in Slovenia was found in Koper.
The study, published on Thursday by the SCORE group in association with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, analysed wastewater in 75 European cities from 25 countries, including Turkey.
It looked for traces of four illicit stimulant drugs (cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA/ecstasy) as well as cannabis, showing the use of most of the drugs returned to the pre-pandemic levels last year after falling the year before.
Slovenia has participated in the study for the fifth year; since 2019 six Slovenian cities or urban areas have been included; Ljubljana, Domžale-Kamnik, Maribor, Koper, Novo Mesto and Velenje.
The port city of Koper had the highest levels of biomarkers of cocaine, ahead of Ljubljana, and Maribor had the lowest. With the exception of Koper, all Slovenian cities ranked below SCORE monitoring average of population-normalised loads.
Velenje in the mid-north-east had the highest concentrations of traces of ecstasy and amphetamine in its wastewaters among the Slovenian cities included in the study.
The urban areas of Domžale and Kamnik north of Ljubljana, Maribor and Koper had amphetamine below the quantification level in all samples of wastewaters. The capital Ljubljana had the highest levels of methamphetamine and THC residues.
While all Slovenian cities were above average in terms of THC concentrations, they were deep below average in methamphetamine. The most popular drugs are THC and cocaine, according to the study.
Over the past five years, amphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy) levels dropped in Ljubljana, with the exception of the high level of MDMA in 2020. The trend is similar for cocaine as methamphetamine and THC use appear to be constant.
Cocaine and THC use has been on the increase in Maribor and Domžale-Kamnik as the latter has been seeing a falling trend when it comes to amphetamine. Velenje saw an increase in cocaine levels in 2021.
STA, 1 October 2021 - A study by a group of researchers at the Jožef Stefan Institute (Institut "Jožef Stefan" – IJS) determined the content of drugs in wastewater samples from Slovenian educational institutions. The results showed that nicotine, alcohol and cannabis were the most prevalent drugs, while residues of morphine, codeine and cocaine were detected as well.
Researchers from the Environmental Sciences Division of the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) used samples of wastewater from Slovenian primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions to carry out their study.
It aimed to determine the presence of metabolic products of legal drugs (nicotine and alcohol), abused drugs (morphine, codeine and methadone) and illegal drugs (cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and heroin), the IJS said in a press release.
The study covered 44 educational institutions offering different levels of education, selected from both urban and non-urban areas in 7 Slovenian municipalities across 6 statistical regions.
The results on drug prevalence were compared by education level, geographical location and the level of urbanisation.
The survey shows that nicotine, alcohol and cannabis are the most widely used drugs overall, with alcohol and cannabis having comparable prevalence despite the difference in availability.
Among the abused drugs, researchers identified biomarkers for morphine and codeine, while methadone biomarkers were below the limit of detection. Among stimulants, cocaine was the most prevalent.
Nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and cocaine were present in wastewater samples from educational institutions in all seven municipalities.
Meanwhile, biomarkers for all target drugs (except methadone and heroin) were identified only in Ljubljana, the study shows.
The study also showed a correlation between cocaine use/availability and urbanisation, while simultaneous use of alcohol and cocaine was only determined in samples from urban areas.
As explained by the IJS, the results indicate the presence of drugs that were not necessarily ingested in educational institutions, as the metabolic products of drugs take longer to be excreted in the urine.
In addition, the school environment is not only comprised of students, but also teachers, support staff and visitors, who may also contribute to the occurrence of certain biomarkers in wastewater, said the IJS.
STA, 18 May 2021 - Slovenian cities are mostly below international average when it comes to the use of illicit drugs, with the exception of ecstasy levels in Ljubljana and amphetamine in Velenje, an international study based on wastewater analysis for 2020 has shown.
The study, released by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, in cooperation with the SCORE network, involved 99 cities in 27 countries with a total population of 50 million, including six Slovenian cities or urban areas.
According to information provided by the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), which coordinates the study in Slovenia, Ljubljana recorded the highest levels of biomarkers of cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine in its wastewater, while Velenje had the highest level of traces of amphetamine among the six Slovenian towns included in the study.
All average levels in the Slovenian urban areas were below the SCORE average, with the exception of MDMA or ecstasy in Ljubljana. The biomarker of cocaine, BE, was just below the average in Ljubljana and Koper.
Compared to European and world capitals, Slovenian cities rank in the upper half of the list of all the cities included in the study when it comes to the levels of benzoylecgonine, the biomarker of cocaine, in their sewage water, while they rank in the lower half in terms of other biomarkers.
Two exceptions are amphetamine in Velenje, in the mid-north-east of the country, and MDMA in the capital Ljubljana, which the IJS notes rank in the upper half of the range.
The analysis has also shown that cocaine and cannabis are the most widely used, with the cannabis leading by the number of doses.
This is the fourth time that Slovenia and Ljubljana have been included in the study. To make out reliable trends, at least five years of monitoring would be needed, although the IJS has detected some specific temporal trends in the use of certain drugs for each Slovenian urban area involved.
Compared with the year before, the use of illicit drugs in Ljubljana declined last year, with the exception of MDMA, the use of which increased. The same trend is observed for cocaine and cannabis over the four years with a general declining trend. So has the use of amphetamine decreased, while the use of methamphetamine was increasing until 2019 before falling in 2020.
The Domžale-Kamnik urban area in central Slovenia and Maribor, Slovenia's second largest city, took part in the study for the third consecutive year. Last year Maribor recorded somewhat lower levels of illicit stimulants but somewhat higher levels of cannabis compared with the year before.
Domžale and Kamnik also recorded a decline in traces of cocaine, amphetamine in their wastewater, as well as comparable levels of MDMA and increased levels of methamphetamine and cannabis compared with 2019. Over the past three years, there is a falling trend for amphetamine and an increase in the use of cannabis.
Koper, Novo Mesto and Velenje were included in the analysis for the second time. Koper saw a drop in the use of all types of the monitored drugs, with the exception of methamphetamine, whose levels were flat. Lower levels of stimulants were also detected in Novo Mesto (SE), and comparable levels in Velenje.
You can find the full report in PDF and interactive forms here
STA, 16 April 2021 - Criminal police officers from Murska Sobota, north-east, have concluded an investigation resulting in the arrest of four persons suspected of drug trafficking on the dark web and seizure of 400 kilos of illicit substances in what is one of the largest drug busts in Slovenia ever.
The investigation concluded on Tuesday with house searches at three locations, two in the Maribor area and one in the Ljubljana area, and involving the four suspects aged from 28 to 43, the police said on its website on Friday.
The suspects, who are believed to have gained at least EUR 3 million with the scheme, were brought before an investigating judge on Thursday and then detained. The four have no previous criminal record related to drug trafficking.
The 15-month investigation included covert measures and cooperation with the police from Germany, Austria and Estonia. Five kilos of various illicit drugs and more than 4,500 ecstasy pills were also seized abroad in the process.
The suspected criminals had a well organised network all around the world for drug trafficking that took place exclusively in marketplaces on the dark web. Payments were made exclusively in cryptocurrencies.
The police has assessed the bust as a large step forward as it was the first time for criminal police officers from the north-eastern region of Pomurje to encounter large-scale drug trafficking on the dark web.
Transactions were not made in person so there weas no physical contact between the buyer and seller, making the investigation much more difficult.
The leader of the gang sold and marketed a variety of illicit drugs in various quantities, and he had a price list. He communicated with the buyers, prepared packages and took care of the supply of ingredients for amphetamine.
The remaining members were sending packages to the buyers almost exclusively by mail. In some cases, they even delivered illicit drugs personally, mostly in Austria.
The perpetrators concealed their activity in various ways, including by carefully picking the packaging in which the shipments were sent. They for instance used containers for food supplements and made it look as if it was original packaging.
Cocaine was sold at EUR 40,000 a kilo, heroin at EUR 9,000 a kilo, methamphetamine at EUR 16,000 a kilo, amphetamine base at EUR 1,300 a kilo, while the price of an ecstasy pill ranged from one to two euros, depending on the quantity.
According to the police, the delivered drugs were of excellent quality and purity, enabling the buyers to cut them for further sale.
The investigation of the dark web profile of the gang leader showed that he had sold more than EUR 600,000 in drugs on only one marketplace between April 2018 and July 2020. The suspects also sold drugs on other dark web marketplaces.
STA, 18 February 2021 - The opposition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) has tabled a bill that would legalise the growing of medical marijuana, a step it says would improve access for patients.
"We're not talking about marijuana legalisation, we want to create the legislative conditions to grow this plant for medical purposes," MP Andrej Rajh told the press on Thursday.
Under existing rules, it is permitted to use marijuana for medical purposes, but since growing is not allowed Slovenia relies on imports of mostly synthetic products.
Slovenia has a thriving underground market in medical marijuana, a substance particularly popular among chronic patients and people with cancer.
According to Rajh, the new legislation, which is modelled on Germany's 2017 law, would regulate the market and provide medical marijuana grown in a controlled way.
Borut Štrukelj of the Ljubljana Faculty of Pharmacy said there were currently two institutions in that grow medical marijuana for scientific purposes, specifically to determine which cultivars are best for different growing conditions.
"There is a lot of knowledge," he said, noting that pharmacies could make products from Slovenian-grown cannabis.
He said this would also reduce the size of the black market, create export opportunities and generate significant budget revenue.
All our stories about cannabis and Slovenia
STA, 26 June 2020 - The National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) has highlighted on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse the problem of widespread cannabis use among Slovenian adolescents. An international study places Slovenia among the countries with the highest shares of 15-year-olds using cannabis.
The institute pointed to the 2018 HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children WHO collaborative cross-national survey) report that showed an average of 13% of 15-year-olds in the 45 participating countries have already used cannabis. The share for Slovenia is 21%, which ranks the country 7th, the NIJZ said.
Related: Talking with the Slovenian Cannabis Social Club (SKSK) About Its Aims & Achievements
Slovenia fares even worse when it comes to 15-year-olds who have used cannabis in the 30 days before being quizzed for the survey. The international average is 7%, while it is 13% in Slovenia, which places the country only behind Canada and Bulgaria.
The NIJZ listed relative ease of access as one of the reasons for widespread use of cannabis among Slovenian youngsters. The survey has half of the 15-year-old Slovenian respondents assessing they could obtain cannabis easily or very easily within 24 hours.
Related: Learn Slovenian With Cannabis
The institute stressed the importance of preventive activities, such as equipping young people with proper social, emotional and behavioural skills, and measures aimed at reducing access to drugs, while stressing the use of cannabis among young people is harmful for brain development.
"Research has shown that with children and youngsters cannabinoids affect the development of the part of the brain responsible for the processing of received information and for thought processes helping solve problems and taking decisions. With regular use, these capacities are reduced, especially for those who start using this drug before the age of 18," Ada Hočevar Grom of the NIJZ warned.
Moreover, some research links the use of cannabis to poorer school performance and to the increased risk of the abuse of other drugs and addiction.
A police investigation took place yesterday morning at one of the Derby warehouses of the "banana king", real estate developer and more recently Adria Airways’ flying permit owner, Izet Rastoder.
According to the surprised bystanders, at about 10 o'clock members of the special police unit arrived. The entrance was guarded by police officers who did not let anyone into the warehouse.
In a press release later in the day the Rastoder Company stated that some employees started unloading the container in the early morning hours and noticed irregularities in some boxes. They were filled with packages of stationery paper and not just bananas. They informed customs authorities about the finding, and a few minutes later an armed police unit entered the warehouse, forced everyone to lie on the ground and some phones were taken away.
Izet Rastoder, who is currently in Dubai, initially told reporters from Dnevnik in a phone conversation that he knew nothing about the event. Later he told Dnevnik that he had learned from his employees that a container of bananas from Colombia had arrived at the warehouse with a one week delay, because it got stuck on its stop in Italy. When the container was opened the employees noticed there was more than simply bananas inside, with paper as well. The employees, in line with the procedural rules, called the customs office and the police.
However, in its press release the police have a slightly different story to tell. Drago Menegalija, a spokesman of the criminal investigators, said that their investigative activities at the address of Letališka street in Ljubljana were the result of a criminal investigation conducted by the National Investigation Bureau for some time, and were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the state prosecutor's office. The investigators carried out urgent investigative actions based on the prosecutors and court orders in connection with the suspicion of committing the criminal offense of illicit production and trafficking in narcotics. Yesterday’s proceedings were therefore not the result of calls by citizens to the emergency number 113, but of something deeper and more organised.
However, the police refused to confirm or deny whether the banana storage house action was part of the two-year investigation into drug-related organised crime, which concluded a few days ago.
STA, 30 January 2020 - The police investigation that led to the dismantling of a well-organised international drug ring earlier this week uncovered the biggest synthetic drugs lab ever found in Slovenia, police representatives told the press on Thursday, as they talked about the investigation in more detail and updated earlier information.
This is the first time that a "wholesale" drugs lab was found operating in Slovenia, Criminal Police Administration director Boštjan Lindav said, adding that this in itself is a landmark.
The police seized 125 kilos of amphetamines and enough precursors to make another 300 kilos of amphetamines in nearly 50 house searches featuring nearly 500 officers Tuesday morning. Equipment to make and package drugs was also seized, as were firearms.
The investigation leading up to the Tuesday bust lasted 28 months, which Lindav said was normal for an investigation of such complexity.
The police believe that a 38-year-old Slovenian citizen from Kamnik was the head of the drug cartel. In the course of the investigation, the police secured evidence of at least 61 crimes perpetrated by 45 members of the ring, said Ljubljana criminal police chief Damjan Petrič.
Apart from the amphetamines and precursors, the police seized 4.7 kilos of cocaine, 9.6 kilos of heroin, 28.3 kilos of marijuana, a kilo of hashish and 6,300 ecstasy pills on Tuesday. More than EUR 240,000 in cash was also seized.
Petrič said that the price of drugs depended on purity, quantity, place of delivery, frequency of purchase by individual buyers and previous cooperation with them. The price of cocaine, for example, varied from EUR 4,000 to EUR 21,000 a kilo.
The members of the ring made a total of about EUR 1.3 million in illegal gains during the course of the investigation.
A courier made EUR 41,000 for transporting nearly 17 kilos of drugs in this period, whereas the person in charge of the network of couriers and dealers made EUR 140,000, Petrič illustrated.
The Ljubljana District Prosecution filed requests for investigation against 46 suspects, whereas 18 people who were arrested on Tuesday have already been brought to an investigative judge. Six suspects were also arrested in Croatia.
Lindav said that the ring was very well organised, and that its members were very careful and confident, as they had not been deterred from drug trafficking despite their earlier drug-related sentences and the fact that one of them was in prison at the time.
STA, 29 January - Slovenian police have busted an international drug ring in cooperation with police forces from Croatia and several other European countries, seizing 120 kilos of amphetamine and arresting 20 people in nearly 50 raids on Wednesday morning.
The ring supplied the Slovenian drug market as well as international markets, the General Police Administration said in a press release.
The group imported a variety of illegal drugs from abroad and produced vast quantities of amphetamine in Slovenia.
In the course of the investigation, the police collected evidence of at least 48 drug trafficking crimes committed by 45 members of the ring.
This morning, the police carried out 47 house searches in and around Ljubljana, Maribor and Celje, seizing tens of kilos of various illegal drugs, equipment to make and package drugs, precursors, marijuana growing equipment and illegal weapons and ammunition, as well as EUR 150,000 in proceeds from drug sales.
The investigation was steered by the Ljubljana District Prosecutor Office and led by the Ljubljana Criminal Police. It featured close cooperation with the Croatian police, as well as police forces from other European countries.
A total of 460 criminal investigators and police officers from across the country took part in today's sting. The majority of suspects will be charged and brought in front of an investigative judge today, the press release says.
Most of the suspects have been previously involved in drug trafficking crimes or thefts.
