Serbian Brotherhood

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Serbian Brotherhood
Founding location Stockholm, Sweden
Years active 1970s-present
Territory Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Gothenburg
Ethnicity Serbs
Membership Around 1000
Criminal activities Cigarette smuggling, drug trafficking, robbery, prostitution, extortion, illegal gambling
Allies Hells Angels, Bandidos

The Serbian Brotherhood (Serbian: Cpпско Братство Srpsko Bratstvo, also known as The Yugos) is a Serbian criminal gang in Sweden and Denmark. The foundations of the gang began during the mass immigration of Yugoslav guest-workers to Sweden in the 1970s. Its power base is in the cities of Stockholm and Copenhagen,[1] and territory in Malmö and Gothenburg, among other cities in western Sweden.[2] They received significant media attention in Sweden especially during the 1990s, thanks to flashy top-ranking members such as Dragan "Jokso" Joksović. The founder and first leader of the gang is believed to be warlord Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović,[3] and the current leader is alleged to be Milan Ševo.[4]

History

The beginnings of the Serbian Brotherhood or "Yugo Mafia" came with the large waves of guest-workers from Yugoslavia to Northern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. During this time Socialist Yugoslavia was emptying its prisons and flooding Western Europe with Yugoslav criminals, many of whom created organized criminal rings in Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. One of these newly freed criminals was Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović, who in 1972 began organizing large heists and hijackings across Western Europe, accumulating a group of subordinates, wealth, and a feared reputation in the underworld. In 1974 Arkan moves to Stockholm from where he organizes 5 bank robberies and 12 armed robberies across Sweden. Arkan is at the helm of the gang until 1979, at which point he flees Sweden due to Interpol Warrants.[5]

Arkan's childhood friend Dragan "Jokso" Joksović is believed to eventually have taken control of the Serbian Brotherhood, broadening the gang's focus from robbery to cigarette smuggling and extortion. Although indicted multiple times for drug offenses and assault, he was never convicted. Owner of several upscale Stockholm restaurants he had close ties to celebrities and politicians in Sweden - eventually being murdered by hit-men on February 4, 1998.[6]

Soon after Jokso's murder, the next boss Ratko "Cobra" Đokić was shot 30 times in the center of Stockholm in 2003.[7] Cobra's son-in-law, Milan Ševo, then became the new head of the Serbian Brotherhood - being dubbed "Godfather of Stockholm". Milan survived several assassination attempts and in 2005 left Stockholm for Belgrade, Serbia, from where he is believed to have continued control of the organization. Ševo and the Serbian Brotherhood are suspected by Swedish and Serbian authorities to be behind the infamous 2009 Stockholm Helicopter Heist worth 10 million euros.[8]

Top Drug Smugglers in Scandinavia

The Danish government label the Serbian Brotherhood as having a "leading role in smuggling heroin into Denmark", surpassing the Albanians and Turks in the Copenhagen drug market.[9] Besides heroin, the Serbian Brotherhood is active in trafficking large quantities of cocaine and marijuana through Sweden and Denmark.[10][11]

Internal Conflicts

In the late 1990s disagreements over money, territory and leadership caused a degree of infighting within the Serbian Brotherhood.

In Popular Culture

- Criminal attorney Jens Lapidus' book, and Daniel Espinosa's film Snabba Cash features the Serbian Brotherhood and is loosely based on real events in the Stockholm Underworld.

- The Danish film series Pusher, features a Serbian gang based on the Serbian Brotherhood.

- A biography on Milan Ševo by Swedish author Nuri Kino entitled The Swedish Godfather.

- TV Documentary broadcast on Swedish TV3 about Dragan "Jokso" Joksović titled The Great Jokso: Gangster or Gentleman.

Members

  • Dragan "Jokso" Joksović, former boss 1980s-1998 assassinated
  • Željko Ražnatović "Arkan", founder, former boss 1970s-1980s
  • Ratko Djokić, former boss 1998-2003 assassinated
  • Rade Kotur, leading chief in control of illegal gambling
  • Petar Grujić, advisor/consigliere assassinated in 2006 [12]
  • Dragan "Kova" Kovač, soldier killed in 1998
  • Milan Ševo, current boss as of 2003, living in Belgrade as of 2006

See also

References

  1. ↑ ("Serbian crime networks seem to be taking a leading role particularly in the smuggling of heroin into Denmark"), Civil and Police Department, 2005
  2. ↑ ("several Serb Brotherhood gangs operate in western Sweden."), DN.se, September 2, 2005
  3. ↑ ("Arkan was considered to manage their business interests in Sweden from Yugoslavia"), Swedish Daily, October 4, 2009
  4. ↑ ("Milan Ševo is nicknamed the godfather of Stockholm"), Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2006
  5. ↑ http://zeljko.raznatovic.free.fr/dosije%20-%20Arkanova%20biografija%20iz%20arhiva%20Interpola.htm
  6. ↑ ("He was singled out as one of the largest in the underworld"), Aftonbladet, February 5, 1998
  7. ↑ http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article10363354.ab
  8. ↑ http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/aktuelno.69.html:338598-Sevo-vracen-zbog-Sarica
  9. ↑ http://www.politi.dk/NR/rdonlyres/4B55B3B7-CFAD-403C-99F3-233FA5E63FCA/0/organised_crime_in_dk_2005_engelsk.pdf
  10. ↑ ("6 kilos of cocaine found in investigation of 'Serbian Brotherhood' member") Copenhagen Police, 2008
  11. ↑ ("Norwegian police believe 500 kilos of marijuana was supplied by the Serbian Brotherhood") BT.dk, March 8, 2004
  12. ↑ ("He counseled Arkan, Joksovic and Djokic."), Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2006
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