0:01

This is exactly right.

0:09

They were just a regular family

0:11

with a child. If you see them in

0:13

Serbia, you would think this is just another completely

0:15

normal Serbian family. After the

0:18

Dubai heist, Ladin Lazarovic,

0:20

the mastermind, and his co-conspirator

0:22

and girlfriend, Bojana Mitej, returned

0:25

to Serbia.

0:26

They had pulled off something truly spectacular.

0:29

They had plenty of money and they

0:31

decided it was time to settle down.

0:34

His reporter, Yelena Zoric, were

0:37

hearing her through a translator. They

0:39

preferred a more quiet life.

0:41

They were buying their apartments, they got their

0:43

kids,

0:44

they had their family life, and

0:46

that worked fine for them. They get

0:48

married, have a son, and

0:50

reportedly open a fitness club in

0:52

Belgrade. As much as anyone

0:54

could tell, they were in fact leading

0:57

a quiet life. They could live very

0:59

well in Serbia with the money that they

1:01

got after each robbery, so

1:04

they didn't want to complicate things more

1:06

and go any further. They could

1:08

feel pretty safe, away from Dubai

1:11

police, away from Interpol. It's

1:13

a dream of domestic tranquility, paid

1:16

for by crimes that are firmly

1:18

in the past. But in 2013,

1:22

a bomb is discovered under Bojana

1:24

Mitej's car. Luckily, it

1:26

falls to the ground without detonating.

1:29

The police are called. And when they question

1:31

the couple, laden and bojana

1:33

express total shock. Who

1:36

could possibly want to kill them?

1:44

I'm Natalia Antalava. I'm a journalist

1:46

based in Eastern Europe. And I'm going

1:48

to take you into the world of therbius,

1:51

most brazen jewel thieves. The

1:57

most daring and successful diamond

1:59

thieves in the world. 30-40

2:01

seconds in, out,

2:04

they stole a half a billion dollars

2:06

worth of value. Two old newsmen

2:08

strolled into an exclusive jewelry store in

2:10

London and walked out with $66 million

2:13

in dollars. They called the

2:15

peak passes.

2:18

They are loosely connected to the of

2:21

over-educated, under-employed,

2:23

ambitious young people who rose

2:25

from the ashes of the Yugoslav

2:27

wars of the 1990s. To

2:30

commit elaborate smash

2:32

and grab

2:32

high, small proof of the good in

2:36

broad daylight. This

2:38

is infamous international, dipping

2:41

panther story.

2:43

Maybe this? He

2:54

invented a couple of heights, one of them

2:57

pretty spectacular, but he didn't

2:59

have the reason to believe that someone would

3:01

want to kill him in Serbia.

3:04

It's been six years since there was a

3:06

more height in Dubai. And

3:08

although Vladil Lazarovic planned and

3:10

led that job, he has seemingly

3:12

gotten out of the game. It was Milam

3:15

Lipuya who had taken most of the spotlight

3:18

in the years since. There have

3:20

been investigative journalists, Hylana Zorich. Milam's

3:22

effect was the most

3:24

important person after Milam,

3:26

but he was presented in the media

3:29

as the main one, as the number one. Milam

3:32

didn't mind having this reputation.

3:34

He liked the role to be

3:37

presented in the media as the main

3:39

one.

3:40

Milam also returned to Serbia, but

3:42

he was less interested in settling down.

3:45

He opened a nightclub. He had a yacht

3:48

and would cruise the Mediterranean,

3:49

inviting rich and beautiful

3:51

people aboard for lavish parties.

3:54

His favorite destination when he was sailing

3:57

on his yacht was between...

3:59

the Italian and French coast

4:02

near French Riviera. And

4:04

during these little cruises on

4:06

Ibiad, he was spending tons of

4:09

money, hundreds of thousands of

4:11

euros, and his guests were usually

4:14

the famous businessmen and also

4:16

the world famous models.

4:19

Milan is hardly keeping a low profile,

4:21

despite the fact that he's a wanted man.

4:24

So during this time, there were people who

4:26

were looking for him, but he was

4:28

somewhere near French Riviera

4:30

having fun. So at that time, they didn't

4:33

find him. Milan would

4:35

often videotape his essays and share

4:37

them with his friends back in Isch. And

4:40

every video ends with the same

4:42

sentence. The sentence

4:43

was, well, two days after

4:46

these parties, after all this fun

4:48

that I used to have, I didn't have

4:50

a penny in my pocket, so I had to

4:52

go and steal again so

4:54

that I have some money to live with.

4:57

And Milan did go and steal again. He

5:00

continued to pull heists around Europe until

5:02

he was finally arrested, tried and

5:04

sent to prison. He spent nearly

5:06

a decade behind

5:07

bars. When

5:08

he returned home, he didn't last

5:10

long. The criminal world in Isch

5:13

had changed, become more dangerous

5:15

as rival gangs battled

5:16

for turf. Milan

5:19

chose a side, and it cost him

5:21

his life. This

5:23

violent end had a certain

5:25

logic to it. But why

5:27

would Bojana's car be targeted with a

5:29

car bomb? Both she and her husband

5:32

had left the life of crime. Police

5:34

assume the bomb was

5:36

actually intended for Milan, and

5:39

the media is quick to start digging

5:41

into his background. It's very interesting

5:44

that in our country, practically nobody

5:46

was talking about him until the

5:49

bomb attempt. That's when

5:51

the media started talking about him, and

5:53

that's when they said, OK, this person

5:55

might be someone who is involved

5:58

with the Pink Panthers.

5:59

I never mentioned it before. Journalists

6:02

try to contact Bojana too, but

6:04

she's not talking. Reporter Yelena

6:07

Zorich reaches out to her repeatedly.

6:09

She was not in the mood to give any statement.

6:12

She refuses any way of communication

6:14

with anyone. Bojana even takes down her

6:16

Twitter profile. She used

6:19

a

6:19

picture of a diamond as

6:21

her profile picture. But

6:23

when they tried

6:24

to kill her husband, obviously,

6:26

it wasn't funny anymore, so she removed it, and

6:29

she was not active there either.

6:31

The case of the attempted bombing

6:33

is never solved.

6:40

Then two years after that failed car

6:42

bomb, there is another attempt

6:44

on Mladin Lazarovich's life. He's

6:47

waiting at a stoplight in his Land Rover

6:49

when an Audi pulls up next to

6:51

him. A man jumps out of

6:53

the Audi and approaches Mladin's Land

6:55

Rover. Yelena Zorich

6:58

again. This all happened in the suburbs

7:00

of Belgrade.

7:01

He was in his car when they started shooting

7:03

at him, and there were 30

7:05

shots. Somehow,

7:09

Mladin is able to pull away as bullets

7:11

fly around him. Blood pouring

7:13

down his face, he manages to drive

7:16

to the nearest hospital. Incredibly,

7:18

he has suffered only superficial

7:20

wounds, cuts on his face and

7:23

head from the shattered glass of the windshield.

7:26

Again, he's questioned by the police, and

7:28

again, he claims he could not

7:31

be more surprised.

7:33

He even says in the hospital that he

7:35

doesn't understand why this happened to him, because

7:37

he didn't have any

7:39

enemies, so he wasn't sure who

7:42

would want to kill him.

7:45

Mladin is well aware that whoever

7:47

is trying to kill him is still out there.

7:50

The police assigned a guard to stay outside

7:53

his hospital room. And of

7:55

course, he didn't feel safe, so

7:57

his friends managed to take him from

7:59

the hospital.

7:59

so they practically kidnapped him from

8:02

the hospital. Even with a police officer

8:04

stationed outside his room, Ladin

8:07

manages to leave with his friends. As

8:09

an extra precaution, he's picked him

8:11

up in an armored car. The person

8:14

who provided this armored car, his

8:16

name is the Dragon Mikic. Dragon

8:18

Mikic, a name was heard before.

8:21

I spoke to my colleague, reporter Elan

8:23

Greenberg, who gave me some context.

8:27

Elan said the last time we were talking

8:30

about Dragon Mikic, that was when he broke

8:32

out of a French prison and then he basically

8:35

vanished, he disappeared. And because

8:38

of that, I was a bit shocked when

8:40

Yelena Zorich suddenly mentioned him again.

8:42

Well, look, if you think about it, Kirby's

8:45

a small country, Nisha's a small city,

8:48

and these guys, even if they're not part

8:50

of a, you know, a unified criminal syndicate,

8:52

they're still all in the same business. They're like

8:56

friendly associates. Sure,

8:57

sure, that all makes sense, but can

8:59

you just bring us up to speed on who this

9:02

guy, Dragon Mikic, is?

9:03

Yeah, his name comes up all the

9:05

time in stories about the Pink Panthers. People

9:07

say he's one of the leaders of the gang, and,

9:10

you know, he's a big guy. He's like six foot six

9:12

with muscles on top of muscles. Remember

9:15

that the Paris police detective, Erve Canan,

9:17

said that Mikic did 2,000 pushups a day

9:19

in prison. So he's an intimidating

9:22

presence, and pretty clearly, he's someone with

9:24

influence. A couple of fellow Panthers

9:26

building AK-47s broke him out of that

9:29

French jail, and he ended up back in Serbia. Where

9:31

apparently

9:31

he has access to an armored car,

9:34

he can lend to his friendly associate,

9:36

Milanin Lazaric, when he needs one, right?

9:39

Yeah, and more than that, because don't

9:41

forget, Milanin is in the hospital, he's recovering

9:43

from his injuries, he has a police guard sitting

9:45

right outside his room. Dragon Mikic

9:48

also helps with that. Does he now? Yes.

9:51

Mikic was arrested for making forged documents.

9:54

He had a partner, a woman, who

9:56

turned out to be a member of the police. So it appears

9:58

that Mikic may have had connection. on the police

10:01

force who could get that officer outside

10:03

his hospital room to stand down

10:05

or at least knock him in the way when Mika

10:07

shows up with that armored car.

10:13

So with the help of his friends, Ladin

10:15

is safe again. And now he's

10:17

not taking any chances.

10:19

Ladin Mazarich has his own security

10:23

and these are actually the ex-members

10:26

of the special police units

10:28

against terrorism. Some of them

10:30

actually are working

10:31

like a private security

10:33

and that's what he has at this moment.

10:37

But why would anyone want to kill Ladin,

10:40

the former jewel thief turned family man?

10:42

Based on her reporting and sources,

10:45

Yelena Zorich has an idea. So

10:47

all those stories about his

10:50

family life with Boana,

10:52

with his wife, that's

10:54

actually not happening anymore

10:56

and he's doing something completely different.

10:59

Ladin Mazarich's life

11:01

is much more dangerous today than what

11:03

it used to be when he was in

11:05

pink panthers because he

11:08

is the most powerful cocaine

11:11

dealer in our country.

11:15

Yelena

11:16

Zorich believes that modern Lazarich

11:18

is, in all likelihood, a powerful

11:21

crime boss. Based on recent

11:23

reporting, we think that he is likely

11:25

working for Clan America, a

11:27

Balkan gang with connections

11:29

to the South American drift trade.

11:34

So this image of the quiet

11:36

family life with Boana is

11:39

a hold. Boyana

11:45

is someone who is the wife of

11:47

a Narco boss, definitely,

11:49

and he is not just any Narco

11:51

boss, he is the most

11:53

important guy in this area. Ladin

11:56

Mazarich celebrated his 37th birthday in 2021. The

12:00

party brought out some notable guests. It's

12:03

known as a fact, for example, that

12:05

the last year, he celebrated

12:07

his birthday in the town

12:09

of Snyf. And for this

12:12

celebration, for his birthday, other people

12:14

who were invited to also other

12:16

big cocaine bosses of Westbauk.

12:20

And

12:20

police is aware of what's happening

12:22

and who is right there, but there

12:24

is no reaction from their party

12:27

whatsoever. All of this might explain

12:29

why Brabhan was envisioned more

12:31

forcefully by the police after he was attacked.

12:34

Why his police escort allowed him

12:37

to leave the hospital in that armored

12:39

car, and why his name had

12:41

not been publicly associated with

12:44

any major crime. The police

12:46

and prosecutors, when they

12:48

hear his name in a connection

12:50

with

12:51

any murder or any severe

12:53

crime, they simply just ignore

12:55

it. And when you ask around

12:58

in a niche about him, people

13:01

are just scared. They don't want to share

13:03

anything with you. He is a very dangerous

13:05

man, and he is more dangerous

13:08

than he ever used to be before.

13:13

We asked Olivera Cherkovich, the former

13:15

basketball star and convicted pink panther,

13:18

for her thoughts about Bladen. It's

13:20

a very bad idea. Her son Nicholas

13:22

is translating here. I was not

13:25

the part of the team who did it

13:27

in Dubai.

13:28

We can't talk about the guys who

13:30

were in Dubai because two of them are close

13:32

friends of us, so we really know the

13:34

story, but I don't want to speak

13:36

of them.

13:49

Over the past several years, the criminal

13:51

underworld in the Balkans has come

13:54

to be dominated by two major clans,

13:57

the Kavaks and the Skelleiares. In 2021,

14:02

about 30 criminals associated

14:04

with the Kavac were arrested

14:06

and charged with multiple counts of

14:08

kidnapping, rape and murder, including

14:12

the killing of Milan Lepuya. As

14:15

of this recording, trials are still

14:17

ongoing in Belgrade. It has become

14:19

a media sensation throughout the Balkans.

14:24

Tabloid media are all over it. You

14:26

have front pages full

14:29

of these gruesome, bloody details.

14:31

Ivanan Gelovski is a Serbian

14:34

investigative journalist now based in Canada.

14:37

He says that local tabloids are obsessed

14:40

with all the grisly

14:40

details that are emergent from the trial.

14:43

It's not easy to read front

14:45

pages where you can see

14:48

pictures of people smiling,

14:51

holding

14:51

other people's severed heads, which

14:54

you can see right now on

14:56

front pages of some Serbian

14:58

tablets. So

14:59

it's very chilling atmosphere. The

15:01

court

15:01

proceedings have overt a particularly

15:04

graphic look inside the dangerous

15:06

world of drug trafficking. They

15:08

have several inside their witnesses

15:11

and they don't spare any words

15:13

in describing the grossness

15:15

of those murders. They would photograph

15:18

their victims and they would send

15:20

those images and videos to their bosses. And

15:24

one message, if I remember correctly,

15:26

was, can you see this boss?

15:29

It's a Mexican in central Belgrade. You

15:32

can say that they were implementing

15:35

brutal practices of criminal

15:37

groups in South America. It's

15:40

the same reason that they would traffic their... OK. But

15:44

the trial is drawing attention

15:46

for more than its gory details. The

15:49

trial is heavily politicized and everyone

15:51

is following it because of political

15:53

connections. As we've heard before from

15:55

numerous journalists based in the Balkans,

15:58

in Serbia the ties between organized groups

17:59

Vucic, who asked them to perform

18:02

various, quote-unquote, favors

18:04

over the years.

18:06

Vucic has publicly denied all

18:08

of these allegations. The

18:13

trial has revealed shocking

18:14

details about the nature

18:16

of Serbia's criminal cartels, their

18:19

fascination with the brutal style of

18:21

their Central and South American business partners,

18:24

their entrenched connections to the

18:26

country's political class.

18:28

And it has brought attention to another

18:30

story, a more personal

18:32

one,

18:33

as troubling as it is hard

18:36

to prove.

18:37

It's important just to remember

18:39

this information. Mladin Lazarevic

18:42

in a niche, he had a nickname.

18:45

And his nickname is Maudenta.

18:48

That's like a little maudin. Little

18:51

Maudin. A nickname for someone

18:53

who's potentially a very dangerous

18:56

man. Elena's

18:59

orchard source told

19:00

her that Maudin knew

19:02

that Milan Le Poya had joined up

19:04

with the rival's man, Mr. Liari. And

19:07

he was not pleased. The

19:09

fact that there were taped conversations

19:12

when there was an investigation about

19:14

the murder of Le Poya, and

19:17

in these taped conversations, several

19:19

times the name of Mladenta

19:22

was mentioned. So he was aware

19:25

of what's going on with Le Poya, and

19:28

he was not happy with the fact that

19:30

Le Poya was with the gang

19:32

of Skyari.

19:34

It's possible that the so-called Little

19:36

Maudin was involved in some

19:38

way in the murder of his old friend, Milan.

19:42

But so far, he has not appeared

19:44

at the trial.

19:45

Despite the fact that the name

19:48

of Maudin was always present in this conversation,

19:50

the police actually never invited

19:53

him to testify. None of this

19:55

is proof that Lada Lazarevic was involved

19:58

in the killing of Milan Le Poya.

19:59

and the Elena assessment should carefully verify

20:02

this claim. The trial

20:05

is ongoing as of the recording of this

20:07

episode.

20:22

While the cinematic tale of Milan

20:24

Lepoia, Milady Lazarovic and

20:26

Bojana Mitic may sound like

20:28

something straight out of Hollywood, for

20:31

Jelena Zoric, there is little

20:33

to root for in their story.

20:51

To

20:58

the index now in a major takedown overseas, police arresting five

21:01

suspected members of the notorious Pink Panther gang during

21:03

a dual

21:03

heist in Barcelona.

21:05

The reports are a bit anti-climatic because

21:07

their heists aren't successful. To

21:10

the index now in a major takedown overseas, police

21:12

arresting five suspected members of the

21:15

notorious Pink Panther

21:18

gang during a dual heist in Barcelona. Reports like this one from

21:20

ABC News in 2016 about a failed Pink Panther's

21:22

heist, one where the authorities who are several

21:25

steps ahead of the would-be thieves, are becoming

21:27

more common. And as

21:29

Arve Konan told NPR, one reason

21:31

for this is geopolitics. Detective

21:34

Konan of the Paris Police says the Pink Panther era is nearly finished.

21:38

In the case of the Paris Police, the police are not

21:40

allowed to take

21:41

the case. The police

21:43

are not allowed to take the case.

21:44

Detective Konan of the Paris Police says

21:46

the Pink Panther era is nearly finished.

21:49

He says most of the thieves hail from Serbia and

21:51

Montenegro, which are becoming more willing

21:53

to hand over suspects to international law

21:55

enforcement.

21:59

So, and the Panthers were untouchable

22:02

and now they can be arrested.

22:03

The Panthers are no longer able to flee

22:06

back to Serbia and live openly and well

22:08

on their ill-gotten gains now that

22:10

the Serbian government sees more value in

22:12

extraditing them.

22:14

Overall, the Pink Panthers simply can't

22:16

operate the way they once did.

22:18

And so, they've become less of a priority

22:20

for law enforcement. Interpol shut

22:23

down Ron Noble's Pink Panther Task Force

22:25

in 2016.

22:28

And we can be integralists to the human

22:30

rights movement

22:31

for alleged abuses of the

22:33

Red Noches. They

22:35

are ambitious to

22:36

move enforcement around the world

22:38

about the presence of criminals in their jurisdiction.

22:41

Chief among the abusers of the system,

22:44

the United Arab Emirates.

22:46

Human rights attorney, Robert Sterling,

22:48

says that Interpol has allowed its

22:50

Red Noches to be used by

22:53

the Emirante government

22:54

as a peak to target

22:57

its enemies. I've removed hundreds

22:59

of these notices over the years. I

23:01

present evidence to Interpol that this

23:03

should never have been put to Interpol

23:05

in the first place. And

23:07

they agree with me, but they don't do anything

23:10

to stop it. So the UAE is absolutely

23:12

abusing

23:12

that access to the database, but Interpol

23:15

doesn't want to upset them. In the past

23:17

several years, the UAE has publicly

23:20

donated over $50 million to Interpol, an

23:23

incentive for the international organization

23:26

to leave well enough alone. They're

23:28

a huge donor, and they're also a partner

23:31

in fighting other sorts of more high

23:33

profile crime. They definitely don't want

23:35

to lose that relationship.

23:38

Something else has changed since Bojana,

23:41

Miladan and Milan pulled off their

23:43

heist at the Wafi mall in Dubai. According

23:46

to journalist Ivanan Gelovsky, the

23:48

United Arab Emirates and Serbia have

23:51

developed a much more

23:52

intimate relationship. After 2012,

23:55

UAE and Serbia got into

23:58

some kind of cooperation.

23:59

From then on, there are lots of

24:02

Balkan people in

24:03

UAE. Now you have some

24:05

of the major kingpins of

24:08

Balkan organized crime living in UAE

24:10

because of the protection they have there.

24:12

And so Zankalovsky, in 2013, the

24:15

Emirati government began

24:16

pouring money into infrastructure

24:19

projects in Serbia. There are several

24:21

projects in Serbia funded

24:24

by money from UAE. Some

24:27

suspect that it's actually money from Serbia that went

24:29

to UAE and then to Serbia.

24:33

And there are lots of, for example, arms

24:35

deals. So there are these

24:38

connections that are

24:41

basically shady. All

24:43

of that comes after Dubai

24:45

Heights.

24:46

As for Interpol's energetic young secretary

24:48

general, Ron Noble, who championed

24:51

the organization's pursuit of the pink panthers,

24:54

he retired from Interpol in 2016. And

24:56

to enter the private sector,

24:58

he now has a number of business interests

25:01

in Dubai.

25:07

Why do people get driven to a life of crime? Former

25:10

Interpol director Wayne Salzgebir. I

25:12

think certainly in the recent history, you've seen

25:15

people with high skill sets that now

25:17

are confronted with a economic

25:20

issue, like in a used volume when the sanctions

25:22

came in, they're forced to do

25:24

other things. They'll figure out how to use

25:27

their skills, whether it be with weapons,

25:29

with violence, with technology, whether

25:31

it be state driven or motivated

25:33

by money. So I think all

25:36

of it, you know, is the story of crime.

25:40

When you become someone who can

25:42

survive in a broken

25:44

society, you get creative, you get resourceful.

25:47

Reporter Eric Pape

25:48

has thought a lot about the roads

25:51

not taken of people like Milane

25:53

Puye, Emlade Lazaric and Bojana Matic.

25:56

The hypothetical lives they and

25:58

other pink panthers might have had.

25:59

given other circumstances.

26:22

Of course not every person facing the

26:24

challenges of life in post-war Serbia

26:27

turns to boosting diamonds

26:29

from Graf and Harry Winston.

26:31

Some adapted in other ways

26:32

that were less criminal in nature. But

26:35

for Eric

26:36

Pank, the Pink Panthers ultimately

26:38

may have managed to

26:39

acquire that one thing they

26:41

seemed to be valuable. Just

26:44

the fact that we're talking about this almost a decade

26:46

and a half later tells me that yeah, it

26:48

was a really great yarn. And I think the authors

26:51

of this yarn are the Pink Panthers themselves.

26:53

They seem to have been brilliant in

26:56

their choice of crimes, but they also told

26:58

a story. I think it's the

27:01

reason that we are still talking about

27:03

it.

27:10

That's it for this season of Infamous

27:12

International, the story of the Pink

27:15

Panthers. I'm Natalia Antelava

27:17

of Koda Stories. Thank

27:19

you for listening. Infamous

27:33

International, the Pink Panthers story

27:35

was produced by Best Case Studios

27:37

in association with Koda Story

27:40

hosted by me Natalia Antelava

27:43

and written by Katrina Wolf, Adam

27:45

Pincus, Suzanne Meyers and

27:48

David Markovits with help

27:50

from Brent Katz and Matt Levin.

27:53

For Best Case Studios, executive producer

27:56

Adam Pincus, senior

27:58

producer David Markovits.

28:00

Producer Katrina Wolf, Associate

28:03

Producer Hannah Leibovitz-Lockhart,

28:06

and Consulting Producers Julie Goldstein

28:08

and Louis Stigler. For Koda Story,

28:11

reporting by Alain Greenberg with

28:13

Associate Producer

28:13

Rebecca Robinson.

28:16

Edited and sound designed by

28:18

Galen Mullins and

28:19

Max Michael Miller. Special

28:21

thanks to Dean White and James

28:23

Hansen. Music by Dave

28:25

Harrington. Archival Producers

28:28

Mark D'Gora and Paul Dallas.

28:31

This has been an Exactly Right

28:33

Production. Executive Producers

28:35

Karen Kilgaris, Georgia Hartstark,

28:38

and Daniel Kramer. With Consulting

28:41

Producer Kyle Ryan.

28:47

Listen, follow, leave us a review on Amazon

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28:54

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28:58

Story, early and ad-free

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29:08

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