By The Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo.

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Naser Kelmendi, whose alleged drug dealing has long made him a target of Balkan law enforcement agencies, is facing more scrutiny after SIPA made a special presentation to Interpol in Lyon, France outlining what it calls his criminal network.

Naser Kelmendi

Three law enforcement agencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) have spent years investigating Naser Kelmendi, a Sarajevo businessman who came to the country from Kosovo soon after the war in BiH and built what investigators describe as a Balkan criminal empire.

Kelmendi, his sons and his half-brother, Bećir, run a number of firms in BiH, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, and do business with some of the region’s big businessmen.

The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) has collected an extensive dossier on Kelmendi, 52, who they say has a criminal organization with connections to influential people.

Federation of BiH (FBiH) police officials say their colleagues across Europe are acquainted with his history; SIPA officials gave a presentation on Kelmendi to Interpol in Lyon, France in 2008.

Although there have been numerous complaints against him, he has never been to trial in BiH.

Interviews with BiH police investigators make it clear they consider him extraordinarily intelligent and wise. They say Kelmendi controls drug trafficking regionally. Despite those suspicions, police officials in Sarajevo and Zenica gave Kelmendi and two of his sons gun permits – even while one faced an indictment for carrying illegal weapon -- while customs officers from Zenica allowed importation of armored cars for personal use and underestimated the true value of the cars.

In Sarajevo Canton, police have filed at least 13 criminal complaints in the past five years against Kelmendi and his sons Elvis, Liridon and Besnik, including charges of murder, attempted murder and assault.

While Naser Kelmendi has never been to trial, two of his sons and his half brother have been convicted of relatively minor charges in Sarajevo Municipal court.

On May 10, 2004 Bećir Kelmendi was sentenced to

Besnik Kelmendi

six-months probation for purchase and carrying a gun without a permit; On April 5, 2006, Liridon Kelmendi was given seven months probation for carrying a weapon and ammunition without a permit; and on July 2, 2009 Elvis Kelmendi received a one-year probation for violent behavior. He pleaded guilty for hitting a man three times in face and hitting women with a fist.

Naser Kelmendi would not speak to the Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN), said his lawyer, Midhat Kočo. But Kočo did lash out at local media, particularly CIN.

"Because, in our opinion, you journalists have written so much just from your head that you don’t deserve our attention and confidence that we should talk to you," Kočo said. "Especially from CIN. It is tragic."

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