Organization
Alex Rudaj, outside Jimbo’s Bar in Astoria, Queens (NYC) on April 15, 2003
Alex Rudaj, outside Jimbo’s Bar in Astoria, Queens (NYC) on April 15, 2003

Alex Rudaj (also known as Allie Boy, Uncle Radaj, Xhaxhai, Sandro Rudovic) of Yorktown, New York is the alleged boss of the Albanian mafia’s Rudaj Organization, based in the New York City metro area. Rudaj is an ethnic Albanian from Montenegro who immigrated to the United States more than a decade ago. Federal prosecutors said Rudaj was the triggerman in a 1993 shooting of another organized crime figure after a high-speed chase in the Bronx. Rudaj hung out the sunroof of a car and fired at Guy Peduto as he fled in another car from Rudaj and three others. They also described an incident where Rudaj showed up with 20 thugs to get late mob boss John Gotti’s table at Rao’s, the legendary and exclusive East Harlem Italian restaurant. On Friday, June 16, 2006, Alex Rudaj, 38, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for racketeering, extortion and gambling offenses.

Nikola Dedaj (Nicky Nails, Big Nick, Nikol) of Yonkers, New York, is the alleged co-leader of the Albanian mafia Rudaj Organization, based in the New York City metro area. According to evidence at trial, armed members of the Rudaj Organization met with members of the Gambino crime family, led by Arnold Squitieri, at a gas station in New Jersey for a standoff, and Dedaj pointed a gun at the gas pumps and threatened to blow everyone up.

Nardino Colotti (born 1963) of the Bronx, New York, is an Italian American protégé of the late Gambino soldier Phil (Skinny Phil) Loscalzo and co-leader of the Albanian mafia Rudaj Organization. In addition to gambling dens in Queens, New York, the Rudaj Organization (known as the “Corporation” to members) ran gambling operations in Mount Vernon and Port Chester. Nardino Colotti’s group had a gambling joint on Adee Street in Port Chester and forced bar owners in Mount Vernon to install their illegal gambling machines. In one instance, Colotti’s group tried to force Salvatore Misale, the owner of Puerto Roja in Mount Vernon, to hand over his bar to the Corporation. Misale went to law enforcement authorities in 1999 after he endured a beating at a Bronx cafe over his refusal to hand over the keys to the bar. Nardino Colotti bit Misale’s ear as he beat and cursed at him, while Nikola Dedaj waved a gun in his face, threatening to shoot.

Ljusa “Louie” Nuculovic is an Albanian mobster, member of Rudaj Organization in New York.

Miri Patani was a member of the gang who went fugitive not long after the arrests of high-erups in the organization. He was later arrested and also charged.
Federal Prosecution

On October 26, 2004, the FBI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley announced the arrest of the group’s alleged boss, Alex Rudaj, and 21 other reputed gang members charged in the indictment. Kelley’s office said it believes the indictment is the first federal racketeering case in the United States against an alleged organized crime enterprise run by Albanians. It should be noted that several of the defendants indicted in the case are not Albanian - the organization has soldiers that are Greek, Arab and Italian - but most of the defendants in the case were either native Albanians or first-generation Albanian-Americans.

During a bail hearing for one of the two dozen people arrested in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Treanor said that the Albanian mob had taken over the operations of the Lucchese family in Astoria, Queens. Rudaj lead an attack in August 2001 on two members of the Lucchese crime family who ran a gambling racket inside a Greek social club called Soccer Fever at 26-80 30th St. in Queens. On August 3, 2001 Rudaj and at least six other men entered the club with guns, beating one of the men in the head with a pistol and chasing others out of the neighborhood by threatening to destroy the building. The Rudaj Organization then opened or began collecting protection payments from at least six Astoria, Queens gambling clubs. FBI and law enforcement were surprised the aggression with which the gang moved in on Italian operations, beating up ‘made men’. At some point the gang controlled at least least 50 video poker machines throughout Queens, the Bronx, and Westchester County, each capable of earning around $700 a week, or around $1.8 million a year. A single dice game could also earn up to $67,000 a week. A U.S. federal jury in New York convicted Alex Rudaj and five of his cohorts of a host of racketeering and extortion charges on January 4, 2006.

http://www.dejanlucic.net/Rudaj%20Organization.html

Beating Them at Their Own Game

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By KAREEM FAHIM
Published: January 3, 2006

There is a small cafe on Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx where Albanian soap operas play on a large-screen television set. It is the Cafe Roma, and an uneasy quiet hangs in the air.
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Federal Bureau of Investigation

Alex Rudaj, outside Jimbo’s Bar in Astoria, Queens, on April 15, 2003. Authorities say he runs the Corporation, an Albanian group that they believe is trying to become New York City’s sixth mob family.

The cigarette smoke is thick, and stacks of playing cards lie unused on the bar. The bartender, a sallow giant with a mustache, plays chess between serving espressos and sugar-sweetened snacks. The bartender will not talk about it, but the authorities say the Cafe Roma was the headquarters of the Corporation, a violent, up-and-coming gang that had a bold objective: to become New York’s sixth crime family, one headed not by Italian-Americans but by Albanian immigrants.

Beginning in the 1990’s, the Corporation, led by a man named Alex Rudaj, established ties with established organized crime figures including members of the Gambino crime family, the authorities say. Then, through negotiations or in armed showdowns, the Albanians struck out on their own, daring to battle the Luchese and Gambino families for territory in Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County, prosecutors say.

During one of these confrontations, in August 2001 at an Astoria gambling parlor called Soccer Fever, Mr. Rudaj and at least 14 of his men served notice of their intentions to an associate of the Gambino family who ran the club, prosecutors contend in court documents.

Brandishing guns, one of Mr. Rudaj’s men overturned gambling tables, another grabbed money, and a third pistol-whipped a patron, the authorities said.

“Gentlemen, the game is over,” one of Mr. Rudaj’s men told patrons playing barbout, a dice game. These details and more have emerged during the trial of Mr. Rudaj and five other men in Federal District Court in Manhattan. A jury is now deliberating charges against them, including racketeering, attempted murder, extortion, loan-sharking and gambling.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/nyregion/03albanian.html

The daily writes that criminals were planning to kidnap Dačić’s son Luka and to ask for Jocić’s freedom in return for the child’s release.

According to the daily’s source, security services sent this unconfirmed information regarding the planned kidnapping to the Interior Ministry two months ago so that the ministry would run checks on the information.

There were also rumors earlier that Jocić’s gang was planning to assassinate Justice Minister Snežana Malović.

The daily also writes that there were suspicious people noticed taking pictures of the home of Dačić’s parents in te village of Žitorađa, in southern Serbia.

The newspaper also claims that there are written and electronic messages with threats coming in to the ministry almost every day, not only against Dačić, but also Police Director Milorad Veljović and Police Administration Chief Rodoljub Milović.

Jocić believes that these three police officials are to blame most for his extradition to Serbia and for the suspicion that he was involved in the murder of Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanić.

Along with Jocić’s gang, the daily writes that the gang of drug lord Darko Šarić, who is still a fugitive, has also been threatening police officials in Serbia.

The daily states that Šarić’s people have information on all operatives investigating their drug ring, including their names, addresses and what sectors of the investigation they are assigned to.

According to this reports , many other senior government officials have been receiving threats regularly, particularly those that are dedicated to the fight against organized crime, namely President Boris Tadić and Security Information Agency Director Saša Vukadinović.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=08&dd=03&nav_id=68852
Darko Saric, - Stankovic der enge Partner von Bodo Hombach

Croatia Police Arrest Criminal Convicted for Serbian PM Murder
Belgrade | 09 June 2010 | Bojana Barlovac

The area in Zagreb where Kalinic was found (FoNet)
The area in Zagreb where Kalinic was found (FoNet)
Sretko Kalinic, one of the men found guilty in absentia for the murder of Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003, has been found by police on the outskirts of Zagreb suffering from gunshot wounds.

The head of the Serbian police, Milorad Veljovic, announced publicly that Milos Simovic, another member of the infamous Zemun clan who was also convicted in absentia for the murder of Djindjic, shot Kalinic with two bullets at 12:45pm in the Zagreb suburb of Rakita.

Veljovic also said that Kalinic was communicative, that the Croatian police were able to have a conversation with him, and that searches for Simovic are ongoing.

In an interview with Serbian national broadcaster RTS this morning, Veljovic said that he was in touch with his Croatian colleagues late into the night on Tuesday.

“They have searched some apartments where the members of the Zemun Clan could be hiding. I expect Milos Simovic to be arrested during the day,” RTS quoted him as saying.

Veljovic also expressed his hope that the extradition of Kalinic to Serbia will be solved quickly, claiming that it would be in the interest of both Serbia and Croatia.

Both Kalinic and Simovic are members of the Zemun clan, a criminal group, and both were tried in absentia by a Belgrade court and found guilty by a first instance verdict for the March 2003 murder of the first democratically elected Serbian prime minister. In May 2007 Kalinic was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder, but his sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison in November 2009.

Simovic was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.

In addition to Simovic and Kalinic, the former commander of the Special Operations Unit, JSO, Milorad Ulemek, as well as the man found to have fired the gun that killed the prime minister, Zvezdan Jovanovic, were found guilty and are each serving sentences of 40 years in prison.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said last night that Kalinic is in custody in Zagreb. He also said that Kalinic, who holds Serbian and Croatian citizenship, was carrying a fake Croatian passport when he was apprehended.
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Other members of the criminal group being sought by police include Vladimir Milosavljevic, Milan Jurisic Jure, Ninoslav Konstantinovic and Selman Hamidovic.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/28622/

Subotić, aka Cane, accused of leading a cigarette smuggling ring, and Šarić, who is accused of smuggling 2.7 tons of cocaine into the region, were in constant communication, and meeting almost every month, a Blic daily source stated.

“These contacts continued even after Šarić was suspected of smuggling drugs from South America. Subotić spoke on television because it was clear to him that his name came up in the investigations into drug smuggling and money laundering,” the source said.

The source said that the pair met most often in Montenegro, in Subotić’s villa in Sveti Stefan and in the Splendid Hotel in Bečići.

“Other people also attended these meetings. One of them was Brana Mićunović, who is accused of cigarette smuggling in Italy along with Subotić,” the source added.

Mićunović’s brother Duško was arrested recently in Italy as a member of Šarić’s crime group, and Italian prosecutor’s stated that the group that smuggled cocaine working through the same routes and channels that were used for smuggling tobacco.

Property, hotels and various buildings were bought with the drug money, mostly in Subotica and Novi Sad, the source said, adding that the Montenegrin and Albanian criminal lobby worked with them in investing in the “acquisition of Vojvodina”.

Šarić was in France directly before the investigation against him began. He received information that Serbia was preparing his arrest and has been on the run ever since, the daily added.

Fuele: Montenegro Faces Challenging EU Integration Phase

Gospodin Nuo Stanaj, dessen Familie die üblichen Geldwäsche Firmen hat und über Anton Stanaj, direkt im Top Drogen Geschäft drinnen ist, wie auch in der Geldwäsche über Tankstellen mit dem Russischen Oligarchen: Lukoil und etliche Tankstellen neu gebaut hat auch an der Albanischen Grenze.

Milo Djukanovic
Milo Djukanovic
EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said that Montenegro was facing a more demanding EU integration phase full of challenges, and that concrete results were necessary in the fight against corruption and organised crime in the country.

Addressing reporters after meeting with top Montenegrin officials, Fuele said that Montenegrin reform efforts must be more comprehensive as the EU integration process becomes more demanding and new challenges present themselves.

“The good news is that these reforms are necessary in any case. Things such as fighting corruption and organised crime, strengthening the rule of law, and strengthening administrative capacity are all things that are necessary for your citizens,” the commissioner said.
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http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/26746/

Medojević, MP in the Montenegrin parliament and leader of the Movement for Change party, accused B92 of being a mafia’s media outlet, that had put itself in its service.

Medojević made the comments for Belgrade-based tabloid Press.

Medojević is making the allegations quoting a personal experience of someone who once wrote for media in the service of organized crime, since, as he himself said, he wrote for weekly newspaper Identitet, which was used by the Zemun Clan, a statement from B92 said this Thursday in Belgrade.

Identitet was banned after the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić.

Medojević’s accusations, as well as a message sent by Ratko Knežević to B92 reporter Jugoslav Ćosić that he was “no different than murderers and criminals”, came after Stanko Subotić aka Cane phoned in to Ćosić’s TV interview with Nebojša Medojević which was broadcast on B92 TV, after Medojević had given his unambiguous consent.

Medojević previously accused Montenegrin authorities of hiding Subotić, for whom Serbia had issued an international arrest warrant and against whom proceedings for abuse of office were conducted, and Darko Šarić, a fugitive from justice suspected of smuggling more than two tons of cocaine from South America to Europe, in Montenegro.

Subotić phoned in from Geneva and accused Medojević of stating lies about him under orders from businessmen Miroslav Mišković and Milan Beko, which was rejected by the Montenegrin politician…………………

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=03&dd=18&nav_id=65896

“We have strong indications that Đukanović was in fact protecting Šarić. Police and security agencies have been submitting information about Darko Šarić to the prosecutor for years, and the prosecutor never filed criminal charges against him. Đukanović was pressuring the prosecutor,” Medojević told Banja Luka-based daily Glas Srpske.

“It is known that Šarić had support from authorities here, that he was financing political parties and campaigns in Pljevlja,” the leader of the Montenegrin opposition party told the newspaper.

Medojević also added that the “expansion of the monster” – the narco-cartel, was not possible without support from police, authorities and security structures.

The PZP leader stated that “it is impossible that Šarić’s cartel grew to a global scale and that not a single criminal charge was eever filed against him in Montenegro.”

Commenting on the claims that after Đukanović, Branislav Mićunović is the most influential man in Montenegro, Medojević said that “there was a relation inside that criminal pyramid” adding that it was also the prosecutor’s opinion, who was gathering evidence in cooperation with the prosecutions of other countries as part of the investigative procedure.

“This procedure should confirm that Đukanović and Mićunović are part of a criminal organization. I have that charge request and indictment prepared by the prosecutor. There is no doubt that Mićunović is as influential as Đukanović’s brother and Darko Šarić, but I think that we realistically have a charge request for Mićunović and Đukanović,” Medojević said.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/region-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=03&dd=02&nav_id=65543

26/02/2010

ZAGREB, Croatia — Montenegrin businessman Ratko Knezevic testified on Thursday (February 25th) that the so-called “tobacco mafia” was behind the October 2008 murders of prominent Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanic and his associate, Niko Franjic. Knezevic said Pukanic first received threats in 2001 after publishing articles on cigarette smuggling. He says the journalist told him he was offered a large amount of money to stop investigating the matter. Knezevic added that he also has been threatened by businessman Stanko Subotic and people close to Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who allegedly tried to convince him to get Pukanic to drop the story. The co-owner and editor-in-chief of the weekly Nacional was killed in a car bombing in downtown Zagreb with co-worker Franjic. Four defendants are on trial in Zagreb. (RTS, Tanjug, Beta, B92, HRT, DPA - 25/02/10)