Turkish police detained Zeljko Bojanic, a Serbian mob boss, in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district on Sunday. Wanted by Interpol on an international arrest warrant and implicated in drug smuggling, Bojanic was also accused of killing fellow Serb Risto Mijanovic.
Police squads dug up the courtyard of the villa where Bojanic was hiding, suspecting that the body of Mijanovic might be buried there. Mijanovic himself was a member of the Skaljari criminal clan, which was at odds with the Kavac clan of Bojanic since 2014. The Kavac clan was blamed for the murder of Skaljari’s boss Jovan Vukotic in Istanbul in September.
Turkish broadcaster CNN Türk reported that Bojanic, who goes by the nickname "Boris," was among Europe’s 45 most wanted criminals and entered Türkiye with a fake passport bearing the name “Andelew Belchew Jordan.”
Media outlets have reported that members of a Turkish gang whose leader is being held in Italy were paid about 1 million euros ($975,495) for the murder of Vukotic. Vukotic, wanted by Serbia, was captured in Türkiye three years ago and extradited to Serbia, where he was released after a trial. He apparently returned to Türkiye with a fake ID and passport, like Bojanic. Some 50 people have been killed in the two clans’ strife since 2014.
