1
00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,640
Speaker 1: They were just the regular family with the child. If

2
00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,560
Speaker 1: you see them in Serbia, you would think this is

3
00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:10,720
Speaker 1: just another completely normal Serbian family.

4
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,560
Speaker 2: After the Dubai heist, Laden Lazarevich, the mastermind, and his

5
00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:20,480
Speaker 2: co conspirator and girlfriend Buyana Mitch returned to Serbia. They

6
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,919
Speaker 2: had pulled off something truly spectacular. They had plenty of money,

7
00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,720
Speaker 2: and they decided it was time to settle down. Here's

8
00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,479
Speaker 2: a reporter, Ilena Zorich. We're hearing her through a translator.

9
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,760
Speaker 1: They prefer a more quiet life. They were buying their apartments,

10
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,800
Speaker 1: they cut their kids, They had their family life and

11
00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:41,240
Speaker 1: that worked fine for them.

12
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,440
Speaker 2: They get married, have a son, and reportedly open a

13
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,120
Speaker 2: fitness club in Belgrade. As much as anyone could tell,

14
00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 2: they were in fact leading a quiet life.

15
00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,040
Speaker 1: They could live very well in Serbia with the money

16
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,360
Speaker 1: that they got after each robbery, so they didn't want

17
00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,000
Speaker 1: to complicate things more and go any further. They could

18
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,760
Speaker 1: feel pretty safe away from Dubai police, away from Interpol.

19
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,919
Speaker 2: It's a dream of domestic tranquility paid for by crimes

20
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,600
Speaker 2: that are firmly in the past. But in twenty thirteen,

21
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,480
Speaker 2: a bomb is discovered under Boyana Mitach's car. Luckily it

22
00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,040
Speaker 2: falls to the ground without detonating. The police are called

23
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 2: and when they questioned the couple laden Boyana express total shock.

24
00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:39,479
Speaker 2: Who could possibly want to kill them? I'm Natalia Antalava.

25
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,640
Speaker 2: I'm a journalist based in Eastern Europe, and I'm going

26
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,960
Speaker 2: to take you into the world of Serbia's most brazen

27
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:47,200
Speaker 2: jewel thieves.

28
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,720
Speaker 3: The most daring and successful diamond things in the world.

29
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,520
Speaker 1: Thirty to forty seconds and help.

30
00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,880
Speaker 3: They've stolen a half of billion dollars of the valuable.

31
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,960
Speaker 2: Two well dressed men strolled into an exclusive jewelry store

32
00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,560
Speaker 2: in London and walked out with sixty six million dollars

33
00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:14,000
Speaker 2: in jewels. They called the Pink Panthers, their loosely connected

34
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:19,440
Speaker 2: crew of over educated, underemployed ambitious young people who rose

35
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,800
Speaker 2: from the ashes of the Yugoslav Wars of the nineteen

36
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,760
Speaker 2: nineties to commit elaborate smash and grab heists all across

37
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:34,239
Speaker 2: the globe, often in broad daylight. This is infamous international

38
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:40,560
Speaker 2: The Pink Panther's Story, episode nine, Crime Doesn't Pay.

39
00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: He did a couple of hides, one of them pretty spectacular,

40
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,880
Speaker 1: but he didn't have the reason to believe that someone

41
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,400
Speaker 1: would want to kill him in Serbia.

42
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,200
Speaker 2: It's been six years since the waffe heist in Dubai,

43
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,520
Speaker 2: and although Vladen Lazarevich planned and led that job, he

44
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,720
Speaker 2: has seemingly gotten out of the game. It was Milan

45
00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,840
Speaker 2: Lipoya who had taken most of the spotlight in the

46
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,040
Speaker 2: years since Serbian investigative journalist Helena's rage.

47
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,200
Speaker 1: Milan in fact was the most important person after Maladen,

48
00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,520
Speaker 1: but he was presented in the media as the main one,

49
00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,239
Speaker 1: as the number one. Milan didn't mind having this reputation.

50
00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,359
Speaker 1: He liked the role to be presented in the media

51
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,280
Speaker 1: as the main one.

52
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,840
Speaker 2: Milan also returned to Serbia, but he was less interested

53
00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,160
Speaker 2: in settling down. He opened a nightclub. He had a

54
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,200
Speaker 2: yacht and would cruise the Mediterranean, inviting rich and beautiful

55
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,720
Speaker 2: people aboard for lavish parties.

56
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,280
Speaker 1: His favorite destination when he was sailing on his yacht

57
00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,520
Speaker 1: was between the Italian and French coast, near French Riviera.

58
00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,000
Speaker 1: And during these little crew this oneasyacht, he was spending

59
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,960
Speaker 1: tons of money hundreds of thousands of euros and his

60
00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,960
Speaker 1: guests were usually the famous businessman and also the world

61
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,000
Speaker 1: famous models.

62
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,440
Speaker 2: Milan is hardly keeping a low profile despite the fact

63
00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:17,839
Speaker 2: that he's a wanted man.

64
00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,880
Speaker 1: So during this time there were people who were looking

65
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: for him, but he was somewhere near frank Riviera having fun,

66
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,760
Speaker 1: so at that time they didn't find him.

67
00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,520
Speaker 2: Milan would often videotape his escapades and share them with

68
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,359
Speaker 2: his friends back in Niche, and every video ends with

69
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 2: the same sentence.

70
00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 1: The sentence was, well, two days after these parties, after

71
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,919
Speaker 1: all this fun that I used to have, I didn't

72
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,200
Speaker 1: have a penny in my pocket, so I had to

73
00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,480
Speaker 1: go and steal again so that I have some money

74
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:50,120
Speaker 1: to live with.

75
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,240
Speaker 2: And Milan did go and steal again. He continued to

76
00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,920
Speaker 2: pull heists around Europe until he was finally arrested, tried,

77
00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 2: and sent to prison. He spent nearly a decade behind bars.

78
00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,880
Speaker 2: When he returned home, he didn't last long. The criminal

79
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,440
Speaker 2: world in Niche had changed become more dangerous As a

80
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,159
Speaker 2: rival gangs battled for turf. Milan chose a side, and

81
00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:19,000
Speaker 2: it cost him his life. His violent and had a

82
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,719
Speaker 2: certain logic to it. But why would Boyana's car be

83
00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,800
Speaker 2: targeted with a car bomb? Both she and her husband

84
00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 2: had left the life of crime. Police assume the bomb

85
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,839
Speaker 2: was actually intended for London, and the media is quick

86
00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 2: to start digging into his background.

87
00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,599
Speaker 1: It's very interesting that in our country practically nobody was

88
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,159
Speaker 1: talking about him until the bomb attempt. That's when the

89
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,440
Speaker 1: media started talking about him, and that's when they said, okay,

90
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,000
Speaker 1: this person might be someone who is involved with the

91
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,160
Speaker 1: Pink Panthers, but they never mentioned it before.

92
00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:00,279
Speaker 2: Journalists try to contact Boyana too, but she's not talking utter.

93
00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,880
Speaker 2: Helenazorich reaches out to her repeatedly.

94
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,560
Speaker 1: She was not in the mood to give any statement.

95
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,800
Speaker 1: She refuses any way of communication with anyone.

96
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,320
Speaker 2: Buyanna even takes down her Twitter profile.

97
00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,240
Speaker 1: She used a picture of a diamond as her profile picture,

98
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,560
Speaker 1: but when they tried to kill her husband, obviously it

99
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,320
Speaker 1: wasn't funny anymore, so she removed it. Than she she

100
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:24,839
Speaker 1: was not active there either.

101
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:33,960
Speaker 2: The case of the attempted bombing is never solved. Then

102
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,440
Speaker 2: two years after that failed car bomb, there is another

103
00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:42,159
Speaker 2: attempt on Laden Lazarevich's life. He's waiting at a stoplight

104
00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,200
Speaker 2: in his land robber when an audi pulls up next

105
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,240
Speaker 2: to him and then jumps out of the audi and

106
00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,080
Speaker 2: approaches Laden's land robber. He Lena Zorich. Again.

107
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,520
Speaker 1: This all happened in the suburbs of Belgrade. He was

108
00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,960
Speaker 1: in his car when they started shooting in him, and

109
00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,359
Speaker 1: there were thirty shots.

110
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,240
Speaker 2: Somehow Bladin is able to pull away as bullets fly

111
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,359
Speaker 2: around him, blood pouring down his face, he manages to

112
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,760
Speaker 2: drive to the nearest hospital. Incredibly, he has suffered only

113
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,520
Speaker 2: superficial wounds cuts on his face and head from the

114
00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,880
Speaker 2: shattered glass of the windshield. Again, he's questioned by the police,

115
00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,080
Speaker 2: and again he claims he could not be more surprised.

116
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,680
Speaker 1: He even says in the hospital that he doesn't understand

117
00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,720
Speaker 1: why it happened to him because he didn't have any enemies,

118
00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,800
Speaker 1: so he wasn't sure who would want to kill him.

119
00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,080
Speaker 2: Bladen is well aware that whoever is trying to kill

120
00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,680
Speaker 2: him is still out there. The police assigned a guard

121
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,800
Speaker 2: to stay outside his hospital.

122
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,360
Speaker 1: Room, and of course he didn't feel safe, so his

123
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,760
Speaker 1: friends managed to take him from the hospital. They practically

124
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,600
Speaker 1: kidnapped him from the hospital.

125
00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,600
Speaker 2: Even with the police officers stationed outside his room, London

126
00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,280
Speaker 2: manages to leave with his friends as an extra precausion

127
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:06,760
Speaker 2: picked him up in an armored car.

128
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,280
Speaker 1: The person who provided this armored car. His name is

129
00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:11,200
Speaker 1: the Dragon.

130
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,480
Speaker 2: Mikic, Dragon Mackage, a name we've heard before. I spoke

131
00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 2: to my colleague, reporter Elan Greenberg, who gave me some context. Elans,

132
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,480
Speaker 2: the last time we were talking about Dragon Mackage, that

133
00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,280
Speaker 2: was when he broke out of a French prison and

134
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,080
Speaker 2: then he basically vanished, He disappeared, and because of that,

135
00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 2: I was a bit shocked when Helena Zorich suddenly mentioned

136
00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:36,280
Speaker 2: him again.

137
00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,640
Speaker 4: Well, look, if you think about it, Serbia's a small country,

138
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,280
Speaker 4: niche is a small city, and these guys, even if

139
00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,400
Speaker 4: they're not part of a you know, a unified criminal syndicate,

140
00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,760
Speaker 4: they're still all in the same business. They're like friendly associates.

141
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,720
Speaker 2: Sure, sure that all makes sense, but can you just

142
00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,440
Speaker 2: bring us up to speed on who this guy, Dragon

143
00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:57,040
Speaker 2: Mickage is.

144
00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,720
Speaker 4: Yeah, his name comes up all the time and stories

145
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,840
Speaker 4: about Pink Panthers. People say he's one of the leaders

146
00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:04,760
Speaker 4: of the gang. And you know, he's a big guy.

147
00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,800
Speaker 4: He's like six foot six with muscles and top of muscles.

148
00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,560
Speaker 4: Remember that the Paris police detective Ever Kannan said that

149
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,880
Speaker 4: Mikish did two thousand push ups a day in prison,

150
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,920
Speaker 4: so he's an intimidating presence and pretty clearly he's someone

151
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,640
Speaker 4: with influence. A couple of fellow panthers Building Ak forty

152
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,720
Speaker 4: seven's broke him out of that French jail and he

153
00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,600
Speaker 4: ended up back in Serbia.

154
00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,800
Speaker 2: Where apparently he has access to an armored car he

155
00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,600
Speaker 2: can leand to his friendly associate Laden Lazarvich when he

156
00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:32,079
Speaker 2: needs one.

157
00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,720
Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, and more than that, because don't forget Milanin

158
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,240
Speaker 4: is in the hospital, he's recovering from his injuries. He

159
00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,360
Speaker 4: has a police guard sitting right outside his room. Dragon

160
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,400
Speaker 4: Mekish also helps with that, does he now, Yes, Mikish

161
00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,880
Speaker 4: was arrested for making fouriged documents. He had a partner

162
00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,720
Speaker 4: woman who turned out to be a member of the police,

163
00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,160
Speaker 4: so it appears that Mikish may have had connections on

164
00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,120
Speaker 4: the police force who could get that officer outside his

165
00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,960
Speaker 4: hospital room to stand down or at least not getting

166
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,960
Speaker 4: and the way when Miki shows up with that armored car.

167
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,720
Speaker 2: So with the help of his friends, Laden is safe

168
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,960
Speaker 2: again and now he's not taking any chances.

169
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,559
Speaker 1: Madame Lazareg has his own security and these are actually

170
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,199
Speaker 1: the ex members of the special police Units against terrorism.

171
00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,439
Speaker 1: Some of them actually are working like a private security

172
00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,320
Speaker 1: and that's what he has at this moment.

173
00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,280
Speaker 2: But why would anyone want to kill Vladen the former

174
00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,679
Speaker 2: jewel thief turned family man. Based on her reporting and sources,

175
00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:40,720
Speaker 2: Yelena Zorich has an idea.

176
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:46,400
Speaker 1: So all those stories about his family life with Buena,

177
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,880
Speaker 1: with his wife, that's actually not happening anymore and he's

178
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 1: doing something completely different. Maladen Lazarevich's life is much more

179
00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,680
Speaker 1: dangerous today than what it used to be when he

180
00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,640
Speaker 1: was in Pink Panther because he is the most powerful

181
00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,600
Speaker 1: cocaine a dealer in our country.

182
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:14,320
Speaker 2: Yeladasorig believes that Ladon Lazarevich is in all likelihood a

183
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,160
Speaker 2: powerful crime boss. Based on recent reporting, we think that

184
00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,520
Speaker 2: he's likely working for Klan America, a Balkan gang with

185
00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:29,800
Speaker 2: connections to the South American drug trade. So this image

186
00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,160
Speaker 2: of the quiet family life with Boyana, it's a front.

187
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,959
Speaker 1: Boyanav is someone who is the wife of an arko boss, definitely,

188
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,440
Speaker 1: and he is not just any narko boss. He is

189
00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,120
Speaker 1: the most important man in this area.

190
00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,600
Speaker 2: Ladon Lazarevitch celebrated his thirty seventh birthday in twenty twenty one.

191
00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,760
Speaker 2: The party brought out some notable guests.

192
00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,680
Speaker 1: It's known as a fact, for example, that the last

193
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,199
Speaker 1: year he celebrated his birthday in the town of Nish

194
00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,199
Speaker 1: and for this celebration for his birthday other people who

195
00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,160
Speaker 1: were invited those were also other big cocaine bosses of

196
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,240
Speaker 1: West Balkans and police is aware of what's happening and

197
00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,960
Speaker 1: who is right there, but there is no reaction from

198
00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,400
Speaker 1: their part whatsoever.

199
00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:26,119
Speaker 2: All of this might explain Whydin wasn't questioned more forcefully

200
00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,319
Speaker 2: by the police after he was attacked, why his police

201
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,120
Speaker 2: escort allowed him to leave the hospital in that armored car,

202
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:37,480
Speaker 2: and why his name had not been publicly associated with

203
00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,079
Speaker 2: any major crimes.

204
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,600
Speaker 1: The police and prosecutors when they hear his name in

205
00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:48,320
Speaker 1: a connection with any murder or any severe crime, they

206
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,079
Speaker 1: simply just ignore it. And when you ask around in

207
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,480
Speaker 1: a niche about him, people are just scared. They don't

208
00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,600
Speaker 1: want to share anything with you. He is a very

209
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,840
Speaker 1: dangerous man and he is more dangerous than he ever

210
00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:03,800
Speaker 1: used to be before.

211
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,880
Speaker 2: We asked OLIVERA. Tcherkovic, the former basketball star and convicted

212
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,880
Speaker 2: Pink Panther, for her thoughts about Bloodin.

213
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,080
Speaker 5: To toyblo Robe.

214
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:17,840
Speaker 2: Her son Nicholas is translating here.

215
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,880
Speaker 6: I was not the part of the team who did

216
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,839
Speaker 6: it in Dubai. We can talk about the guys who

217
00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,360
Speaker 6: were in Dubai because two of them are close friends

218
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,400
Speaker 6: of us, so we really know the story, but I

219
00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:43,160
Speaker 6: don't want to speak of them.

220
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,360
Speaker 2: Over the past several years, the criminal underworld in the

221
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,079
Speaker 2: Balkans has come to be dominated by two major clans,

222
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:56,280
Speaker 2: the Kavakhs and the Scalieris in twenty twenty one about

223
00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:00,960
Speaker 2: thirty criminals associated with the kavak where rest and charged

224
00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,960
Speaker 2: with multiple counts of kidnapping, rape and murder, including the

225
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,439
Speaker 2: killing of Milan Li Puya. As of this recording, trials

226
00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,000
Speaker 2: are still ongoing in Belgrade. It has become a media

227
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:15,960
Speaker 2: sensation throughout the Balkans.

228
00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,120
Speaker 5: Tabloid media are all over it. You have front pages

229
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,520
Speaker 5: full of physic gluesome bloody details.

230
00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,640
Speaker 2: Ivan and Gaelovski is a Serbian investigative journalist now based

231
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,840
Speaker 2: in Canada. He says that local tabloids are obsessed with

232
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,880
Speaker 2: all the grisly details that are emerging from the trial.

233
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,200
Speaker 5: It's not easy to read front pages where you can

234
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:47,320
Speaker 5: see pictures of people smiling holding other people's severed heads,

235
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,480
Speaker 5: which you can see right now or on front pages

236
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:55,000
Speaker 5: of some of Serbian tabloids. So it's very chilling atmosphere.

237
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,240
Speaker 2: The court proceedings have offered a particularly graphic look inside

238
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,480
Speaker 2: the dangerous world of drug trafficking.

239
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,600
Speaker 5: They have several insider witnesses and they don't spare any

240
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,200
Speaker 5: words in describing the grusolness of those murders. They would

241
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,400
Speaker 5: photograph their victims and they would send those images and

242
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,240
Speaker 5: videos to their bosses, and one message, if I remember correctly,

243
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,160
Speaker 5: was can you see this boss? It's Mexico in central Belgrade,

244
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,120
Speaker 5: so you can say that they were implementing brutal practices

245
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,720
Speaker 5: of criminal groups in South America. It's the same region

246
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,040
Speaker 5: that they would traffic the cocaine front.

247
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,200
Speaker 2: But the trial is drawing attention for more than its

248
00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:42,320
Speaker 2: corey details.

249
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,680
Speaker 5: The trial is heavily politicized and everyone is following it

250
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 5: because of political connections.

251
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,280
Speaker 2: As we've heard before from numerous journalists based in the Balkans.

252
00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,200
Speaker 2: In Serbia, the ties between organized crime and the state

253
00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,040
Speaker 2: run deep, and according to Angelovsky, that's particularly true in

254
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:01,360
Speaker 2: the case of the Kavakh Klan.

255
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,480
Speaker 5: They have you know their financial interests, they have their

256
00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,560
Speaker 5: political connections. It is often considered that the members of

257
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,320
Speaker 5: this group are in one way or the other connected

258
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:18,000
Speaker 5: to the ruling party here in Belgrade, So everything around

259
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,280
Speaker 5: them has political consequences.

260
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,320
Speaker 2: And as we've seen, whenever crime and politics intermingo and Serbia,

261
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,320
Speaker 2: soccer or football is usually somewhere in the mix too.

262
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,440
Speaker 5: So the group that's on trial, they are members of

263
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:37,000
Speaker 5: an organized brand group, but they're also supporters of a

264
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:42,200
Speaker 5: football team in Belgrade. It's often considered that who leads

265
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:48,120
Speaker 5: the supporters on football stadiums, they lead the narcotics trade

266
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:52,400
Speaker 5: in country. So the group that's on trial are the

267
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,520
Speaker 5: main traffickers of cocaine from South America to Europe.

268
00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:00,680
Speaker 2: Reporter Evan and Gilowski thinks all this media focus on

269
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,960
Speaker 2: the Serbian government's alleged ties to organized crime is unlikely

270
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,400
Speaker 2: to do much to stem the country's corruptions.

271
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,080
Speaker 5: It's not the first time we're seeing this. We were

272
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,680
Speaker 5: in this situation before. You know, first democratically elected Prime

273
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,720
Speaker 5: minister of Serbia, Zorojinich, was murdered in two thousand and three.

274
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,800
Speaker 5: We had a similar atmosphere as we have now. Back

275
00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:26,640
Speaker 5: then the organized crime killed the Prime Minister, and that

276
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:31,680
Speaker 5: was a watershedting moment because people figured out how deep

277
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,040
Speaker 5: politics was involved with organized crime. Because you know, organized

278
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:40,080
Speaker 5: crime never died down. We are now seeing this.

279
00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,600
Speaker 2: Two of the defendants who testified in the trial admitted

280
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,080
Speaker 2: that they actually work for the Serbian government, claiming they've

281
00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:54,040
Speaker 2: met several times with the country's current president, Alexander Vocich,

282
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,560
Speaker 2: who asked them to perform various quld unquote favors over

283
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,440
Speaker 2: the years. Vutich has publicly denied all of these allegations.

284
00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 2: The trial has revealed shocking details about the nature of

285
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,199
Speaker 2: Serbia's criminal cartels, their fascination with the brutal style of

286
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,920
Speaker 2: their Central and South American business partners, their entrenched connections

287
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,800
Speaker 2: to the country's political class, and it has brought attention

288
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,960
Speaker 2: to another story, a more personal one. As troubling as

289
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:30,480
Speaker 2: it is hard to prove.

290
00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,200
Speaker 1: It's important just to remember this information. A Malad and

291
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 1: Lazarevich in a niche he had a nickname, and his

292
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,280
Speaker 1: nickname is Ladentu. That's like a little Maladen.

293
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 2: Little Mladen, acute nickname for someone who's potentially a very

294
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:56,320
Speaker 2: dangerous man. Yelena's richest source tells her that Mladen knew

295
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,359
Speaker 2: that Milan Lepoye had joined up with the rival klan,

296
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:02,040
Speaker 2: and he was not.

297
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:07,000
Speaker 1: Pleased the fact that there were tape conversation when there

298
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,280
Speaker 1: was an investigation about the murder of Yapoya, and in

299
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:17,120
Speaker 1: this taped conversation, several times the name of Mladene was mentioned,

300
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,520
Speaker 1: so he was aware of what's going on with Yepoya

301
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,800
Speaker 1: and he was not happy with the fact that Yapoya

302
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,199
Speaker 1: was with the gang of SKAYERI.

303
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,120
Speaker 2: It's possible that the so called Little Laden was involved

304
00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,840
Speaker 2: in some way in the murder of his old friend Milan,

305
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,040
Speaker 2: but so far he has not appeared at the trial.

306
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,800
Speaker 1: Despite the fact that the name of Mlada was always

307
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 1: present in his conversation, the police actually never invited him

308
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: to testify.

309
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,800
Speaker 2: None of this is proved that Laden Lazarevitch was involved

310
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,800
Speaker 2: in the killing of Milan le Poya, and Yelena says

311
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 2: that she can fully verify this claim. The trial is

312
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 2: ongoing as of the recording of this episode. While the

313
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:21,159
Speaker 2: cinematic tale of Milan Lipuyan, Milada Lazarevich and Boyana Mitic

314
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,720
Speaker 2: may sound like something straight out of Hollywood, for Jelena Zorich,

315
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,360
Speaker 2: there is little to root for in their story.

316
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,440
Speaker 1: So many people will probably try to make the story

317
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,200
Speaker 1: a little bit more romantic. They will probably talk about

318
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 1: their spectacular heists, especially the one in Dubai. They're going

319
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,280
Speaker 1: to tell you how unique, how spectacular this was. But

320
00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:47,160
Speaker 1: for me, this story is far away from that. It's

321
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,600
Speaker 1: not just the simple thieves who are maybe interesting to

322
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,080
Speaker 1: regular people because they steal from the rich. Know that

323
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,959
Speaker 1: these are thieves who later become a murderers.

324
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,919
Speaker 2: These days, alleged Pink Panthers make the occasional appearance in

325
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,639
Speaker 2: the medium, but more often than not their reports are

326
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:10,399
Speaker 2: a bit anti climactic because their highsts aren't successful.

327
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:12,520
Speaker 7: To the index.

328
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,639
Speaker 3: Now, in a major takedown overseas police arresting five suspected

329
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,520
Speaker 3: members of the notorious.

330
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,320
Speaker 2: Pink Panther gang during a jewel heist in Barcelona, Reports

331
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,399
Speaker 2: like this one from ABC News in twenty sixteen about

332
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 2: a failed Pink Panther's heist, one where the authorities who

333
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,120
Speaker 2: are several steps ahead of the would be thieves, are

334
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,640
Speaker 2: becoming more common, and as Aveko Nan told NPR, one

335
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,959
Speaker 2: reason for this is geopolitics.

336
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,320
Speaker 7: Detective Kanan of the Paris Police says the Pink Panther

337
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 7: era is nearly finished. He says most of the thieves

338
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,480
Speaker 7: hail from Serbia and Mountainegro, which are becoming more willing

339
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,400
Speaker 7: to hand over suspects to international law enforcements.

340
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 5: Serbian Mantenegro want to go in the European Union, so

341
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,679
Speaker 5: in the pat that we're untouchable, and now they can

342
00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 5: be arrested.

343
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,119
Speaker 2: The panthers are no longer able to flee back to

344
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 2: Serby and live openly and well on their ill gotten

345
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 2: gains now that the Serbian government sees more value in

346
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 2: extraditing them. Overall, the Ping Panthers simply can't operate the

347
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,560
Speaker 2: way they once did, and so they've become less of

348
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,679
Speaker 2: a priority for law enforcement. INTERPOL shut down Ron Nobles

349
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:23,000
Speaker 2: Ping Panther task force in twenty sixteen, and recently Interpal

350
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,920
Speaker 2: itself has come under scrutiny for alleged abuses of its

351
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 2: Red Notice system. The alerted issues to law enforcement around

352
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,600
Speaker 2: the world about the presence of criminals in their jurisdiction.

353
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,800
Speaker 2: Chief among the abusers of this system, the United Arab

354
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 2: Emirates Human rights attorney Rather Sterling, says that Interpol has

355
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,520
Speaker 2: allowed its red notices to be used by the Immerting

356
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 2: government as a pretext to target its enemies. I've removed

357
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 2: hundreds of these notices over the years. I present evidence

358
00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 2: to Interpol that this should never have been put to

359
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,600
Speaker 2: into Poland in the first place, and they agree with me.

360
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 6: But they don't do anything to stop it.

361
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 5: So the UA is absolutely abusing that access to the database,

362
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 5: but into Pol doesn't want to upset them.

363
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 2: In the past several years, the UAE has publicly donated

364
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,520
Speaker 2: over fifty million dollars to Interpol an incentive for the

365
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 2: international organization to leave well enough alone.

366
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,680
Speaker 1: And they're a huge donor, and they're also a partner

367
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 1: in fighting other.

368
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 2: Sorts of more high profile crime, and they definitely don't

369
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 2: want to lose that relationship. Something else has changed since Boyana,

370
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,080
Speaker 2: Landon and Milan pulled off their heist at the Waffi

371
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 2: Mall in Dubai. According to journalist Devana and Gelowski, the

372
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,920
Speaker 2: United Arab Emirates and Serbia have developed a much more

373
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 2: intimate relationship.

374
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,400
Speaker 5: After twenty twelve, UAE and Serbia got into some kind

375
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,359
Speaker 5: of cooperation from then on. There are lots of Balkan

376
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 5: people in ue Now you have some of the main

377
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 5: major kingpins of Palkan organized crime living in Uee because

378
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 5: of protections they have.

379
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 2: There and Sazangilowski. In twenty thirteen, the Emeratic government began

380
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,160
Speaker 2: pouring money into infrastructure projects in Serbia.

381
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 5: There are these several projects in Serbia funded by money

382
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 5: from UAE. Some suspect that it's actually money from Serbia

383
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 5: advent to UAE and then back to Serbia. And there

384
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 5: are lots of for example, arms deals, So there are

385
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 5: these connections that are basically shady. But all of that

386
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,920
Speaker 5: comes after Dubai heist.

387
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 2: As for Interpose energetic young Secretary General Ron Noble, who

388
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 2: championed the organization's pursuit of the Ping panthers. He retired

389
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 2: from Interpol in twenty sixteen to enter the private sector.

390
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,240
Speaker 2: He now has a number of business interests in Dubai.

391
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 3: Why do people get driven to a life of crime?

392
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,600
Speaker 2: Former interpoal director with in Salesgabor I.

393
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,320
Speaker 3: Think certainly in the recent history you've seen people with

394
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:14,639
Speaker 3: high skill sets that now are confronted with a economic issue,

395
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,679
Speaker 3: like in the US Lago when the sanctions came in,

396
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 3: they're forced to do other things they'll figure out how

397
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 3: to use their skills, whether it be with weapons, with violence,

398
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:28,240
Speaker 3: with technology, whether it be state driven or motivated by money.

399
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 5: So I think all of it.

400
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 3: You know, it is the story of crime.

401
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 8: When you become someone who can survive in a broken society,

402
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 8: you get creative, you get resourceful.

403
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 2: Reporter Eric Pape has thought a lot about the roads

404
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 2: not taken of people like Milani Puya, lad Laza Rich

405
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 2: and Boyana Metage, the hypothetical lives they and other Pink

406
00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 2: Panthers might have had given other circumstances.

407
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 8: In Malcolm X's autobiography, he writes the whole section about

408
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,479
Speaker 8: all the different people he's doing time with in prison,

409
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,439
Speaker 8: and at one point he says, you know, there are

410
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,200
Speaker 8: all these guys. If they had access to a different life,

411
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,719
Speaker 8: they could have been amazing. And he went crime by

412
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 8: crime among his friends in prison and sort of thought,

413
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,399
Speaker 8: what would they have been like in a better life.

414
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,720
Speaker 2: Of course, not every person facing the challenges of life

415
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 2: in post war Serbia turned to boosting diamonds from Grafen

416
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:27,480
Speaker 2: Harry Winston. Some adapted in other ways that were less

417
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 2: criminal in nature. But for Eric Paige, the Big Panthers

418
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 2: ultimately may have managed to acquire that one thing that

419
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 2: they seem to value lost.

420
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 9: Just the fact that we're talking about this, you know,

421
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 9: almost a decade and a half later, tells me that, Yeah,

422
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 9: it was a really great yarn. And I think that

423
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 9: authors of this yarn aren't the Pink Panthers themselves. They

424
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 9: seem to have been brilliant in their choice of crimes,

425
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 9: but they also told a story. I think it's the

426
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 9: reason that we are still talking about it.

427
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 2: That's it for this season of Infamous International, The Story

428
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 2: of the Pink Panthers. I'm Natalia Antalava of Koda Story.

429
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:28,959
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening. Infamous International The Pink Panthers Story

430
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 2: was produced by Best Case Studios in association with Koda Story,

431
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,679
Speaker 2: hosted by me Natalia Antalava, and written by Katrina Wolfe,

432
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 2: Adam Pinkis, Suszanne Myers, and David Markowitz, with help from

433
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:49,160
Speaker 2: Brent Katz and Matt Levin. For Best Case Studios, Executive

434
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 2: producer Adam Pinkis, Senior producer David Markowitz, producer Katrina Wolfe,

435
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 2: Associate producer Hannah Libovitz Lockhart, and consulting producers Julie Goldstein,

436
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 2: and Louis Spiegler for Koda. Story reporting by Lane Greenberg

437
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,680
Speaker 2: with associate producer Rebecca Robinson. Edited and sound designed by

438
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 2: Gaylen Mullins and Max Michael Miller. Special thanks to Dean

439
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 2: White and James Hansen. Music by Dave Harrington. Archival producers

440
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 2: Mark Degora and Paul Dallas. This has been an exactly

441
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:32,719
Speaker 2: right production. Executive producers Karen Kilgareth Georgia hart Stark, and

442
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 2: Daniel Kramer, with consulting producer Kyle Ryan