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The Zemun Clan () is one of the
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
clans of the
Serbian mafia The Serbian mafia (), or Serbian organized crime, are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the former Yugoslavia and Serbian diaspora. The organizations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms traffick ...
. It is named for the gang's base in
Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...
, a municipality of Belgrade. The peak of the clan's power and influence occurred between 1999 and 2003 and they were considered to be one of the most powerful organisations in
Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
.


History

In 1993,
Dušan Spasojević Dušan Spasojević ( sr-cyrl, Душан Спасојевић; 10 July 1968 – 27 March 2003), known by the nicknames Duća and Šiptar (a derogatory term for Albanians) was the head of one of the largest Serbian criminal groups on record, the ...
, a former lower-league association football player who would later become the head of the Zemun clan, arrived to Serbian capital city of
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
from his home village of Retkocer, near
Medveđa Medveđa ( sr-Cyrl, Медвеђа, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 6,360, while the town has a population of 2,993. Etymology The ...
in southern Serbia. Retkocer's proximity to Kosovo is what earned Spasojević the nickname Šiptar (''the Albanian''), even though he was an ethnic Serb. On his trip to Belgrade, he was accompanied by his childhood friend and future associate, Mile Luković, called Kum (''the Godfather''). Luković came from Donji Gajtan near Medveđa, and has previously worked as a prison guard in
Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...
. Upon arriving to Belgrade, the two men soon got involved in car theft. In 1995, Belgrade police arrested Spasojević and Luković while they were trying to steal a civilian car parked in front of a military hospital. The car theft operation was led by a certain "Peca", and targets were people coming to visit wounded friends or relatives in the hospital. Due to the ongoing
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
, the number of such visits was large. Presumably, the group operated either under the control, or in cooperation with, the
Surčin Surčin ( sr-Cyrl, Сурчин, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is located in the eastern Syrmia region in Central Europe, 32km west of downtown Belgrade. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 45,452 inhabitants. It is the ...
clan, the largest organised car theft group in the country. In 1997, Spasojević and Luković moved from cars to pushing drugs in the Belgrade suburb of Karaburma, and after getting arrested again, they became police informants. After finding out that his son is a drug dealer, Luković's father committed suicide. Spasojević and Luković soon became close to the leader of the
Surčin Surčin ( sr-Cyrl, Сурчин, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is located in the eastern Syrmia region in Central Europe, 32km west of downtown Belgrade. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 45,452 inhabitants. It is the ...
clan, Ljubiša Buha. The two men used Buha's numerous connections to their advantage and established their base of operations in
Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...
neighborhood, relatively close to Surčin. Nominally, Spasojević and Luković were considered members of the Surčin group, but later became increasingly autonomous in their operations. During this period, Sretko "The Beast" Kalinić joined Spasojević's group as their chief hit-man. His methods included drive-by shootings from a grey
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...
(dubbed the "Audi of Death" by the media) and, in at least one case, grinding the victim in a meat grinder. The group definitely parted ways with Buha after he decided to turn legitimate and start a road construction company, called ''Defense Road''. The Zemun clan grew in prominence after the downfall of
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
with an influx of many veterans of the Special Operations Unit (widely known as ''Red Berets''), including the unit's commander,
Milorad Ulemek Milorad Ulemek (; born 15 March 1968), also known as Milorad Luković () and "Legija" (), is a Serbian former commander of the Serbian police special unit, the Special Operations Unit (JSO) and a former paramilitary commander, who was convicted o ...
. These were people who had military training, wartime experience and connections with elements of the Serbian state secret service
UDBA The State Security Service, also known by its original name as the Directorate for State Security, was the secret police organization of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia. It was at all times best known by the acrony ...
(after 2001, renamed to BIA). In September 2001, 700 kilos of heroin were found in a bank vault rented by Beobanka to the BIA, in central Belgrade. The illegal safekeeping was never explained nor brought up. In 2001, the Zemun clan organized "special training courses" with the BIA, lending them information on Kosovar Albanian insurgents in exchange."Working Paper"
Anastasijević
During 2001, the clan kidnapped several influential businessmen and demanded millions as ransom. Among those men were Milija Babović and Miroslav Mišković, widely considered to be the most powerful business people in Serbia at the time. In both cases, Ulemek offered his help to the police, in his official capacity. He abused that position and provided insider information to the clan: for example, when he found out that Babović's family quickly and easily collected the ransom money, he advised the clan members to demand more. Eventually, all the hostages were released, however, some were severely beaten and tortured in the process. Alerted by the increasingly brazen kidnappings, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Dušan Mihajlović ordered the formation of an undercover unit within the police, led by experienced officer Mile Novaković, with the sole task of bringing down the perpetrators. During their trip to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Spasojević and Luković had been arrested by the French police on the account of having fake passports. They were extradited to Serbia and spent several months in custody, but were ultimately released, despite protests by several high ranking police officers. The Clan formed the so-called ''"crowbar brigade"'' (''"pajser brigada"''), consisting of around 50 underage or young delinquents from different areas of Belgrade, whose primary job was to harass, extort and torture the drug addicts who owed the Clan money. Although crowbar was their primary weapon, they used all sorts of blunt weapons. The "brigade" was controlled by Spasojević's associates, Dušan Krsmanović and Milan Jurišić. Spasojević had built a villa with an adjacent shopping mall in Šilerova street, a relatively poor neighborhood within Zemun. Built for around 8,5 million German Marks, it was surrounded by 7m high walls, contained an Olympic swimming pool with ocean rubble, and chairs covered with pony hair. The villa also had a torture chamber in the basement, however the clan usually avoided keeping the hostages there. In 2002, the clan attempted to assassinate Buha twice: once in front of his company ''Defense Road'' in Belgrade, and again during his vacation in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. The last attempt prompted Buha to drive all the way to the Serbian embassy in
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
and offer to testify. He was transferred to a secure location where gave his testimony in the presence of the Serbian state prosecutor and the police unit led by Novaković. During the period that started with the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
and ended with the assassination of Prime Minister
Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...
in March 2003, connections between the Serbian Mafia and the government were obvious and corruption was rampant in most branches of the state, from border patrols to law-enforcement agencies. On 12 March 2003, Đinđić was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
by former Special Operations Unit member Zvezdan Jovanović. The government then set in motion a major operation against organized crime codenamed Operation Sabre, which led to more than 10,000 arrests. The revenue of New Belgrade malls, locations frequented by gangsters, plummeted by more than 20+% after the Operation. Milan Sarajlić, the Deputy State Prosecutor of Serbia, was arrested and confessed to being on the payroll of the Zemun clan. The Red Berets were dissolved on 23 March 2003.''Organized Crime in the Western Balkans''
/ref> Spasojević and Luković were killed by the police in front of their hiding place in the village of Meljak near Belgrade, on 27 March. The official explanation has been that both were killed in a shootout with the police, but this has been disputed by many, including the famous Serbian lawyer Toma Fila. The villa in Šilerova street was demolished. In 2006, it was revealed that Spasojević was a source of information to Serbian Radical leader
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
, whom he had given information about high-profile murders carried out in Serbia, written about in Šešelj's two books (Šešelj referred to Spasojević under the pseudonym ''Laufer'').


The "new" Zemun Clan

After a period of relative silence, the organized groups from Zemun and surrounding areas once again increased their activities. In November 2009,
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
Police arrested 5 Serbian drug couriers and seized their 492 kilograms of cocaine in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. On 31 October 2009, Serbian police arrested over 500 people in the biggest ever anti-drug operation carried out in Serbia. The routes of the drugs were from
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
and
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
to Northern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and
Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...
. Serbian organized crime experts estimated that 10,000 foot soldiers form a part of the 5 major organized crime groups operating in the country.Serbia: Cheap drugs and corruption fuels mafia expansion
/ref> A courier package of 5 kilos of cocaine was intercepted from Paraguay and 4 Belgraders were arrested. The busts were part of ''Operation Balkan Warrior''; an international drug smuggling case that involves mainly the new Zemun Clan. The leader of the new drug ring is Željko Vujanović.


Notable people


In popular culture

* Serbian crime TV series ''"Klan"'' is a satire of the Zemun Clan, with the names changed and the plot taking place in the 2020s.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11007186/


References

{{Reflist Organizations established in the 1990s 1990s establishments in Serbia Organized crime groups in Serbia