Drug kingpin Vaso Ulic, last week picked up by European police in a large-scale organised crime sting in the Balkans, was allegedly behind Australia’s most high-profile drug import in recent years — two shipments of cocaine totalling 2.5 tonnes.
The imports set into motion a chain of events which sparked a global manhunt.
Vaso Ulic, 65, was arrested in a dramatic sting codenamed “General” in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, last week (left and bottom right); Ulic was arrested in 2017 (top right).Credit: Libertas Press/Savo Prelević; NSW Police; Supplied
The second of the two imports that Ulic allegedly masterminded from his base in Montenegro — 900 kilograms of Colombian cocaine sent into Port Botany in June 2021 — was to be sent to a man multiple sources say was his employee, Sydneysider Mostafa Baluch.
The son of Newport restaurateurs, Baluch was picked up by investigators and charged with a slew of offences in relation to the shipment, of which he was allegedly a “primary shareholder”.
Baluch was granted bail with his parents’ $4 million home in Northern Beaches on the line as surety.
He went on to achieve notoriety when he cut off his court-appointed ankle monitor and spent 16 days on the run from the law, culminating in his arrest after he was discovered in the back of a truck attempting to cross the Queensland border.
Bennet Schwartz and Mostafa Baluch.
Police allege he was planning to flee offshore, possibly to the Balkans to join Ulic. Baluch maintains his innocence and is set to face trial next year.
Arrested at a later date was his alleged co-conspirator, Bennet Schwartz. A former executive at Rio Tinto with a history of importing drugs, Schwartz was picked up by police hunting for Baluch as he dodged law enforcement.
Schwartz was ultimately charged over an alleged ice import, not Baluch’s alleged 900 kilograms of cocaine. He died inside Silverwater Prison in 2022, with an inquest scheduled for the start of next year.
This masthead reported last week that Ulic, Baluch’s alleged boss, his son, Nikola, and seven others were arrested over the two shipments, which also included 1570 kilograms of cocaine smuggled from South America to Australia and Europe at the height of the pandemic in October 2020.
‘The targeted individuals were closely linked to … a larger drug-trafficking network spread across the Balkan region.’
A media release from Europol
They are an example of what European law enforcement says is a growing trend – importing cocaine to Australia where the drug commands up to 10 times the price in Europe.
“In recent years, Western Balkan criminal networks have increasingly targeted the Australian drug market, as the illegal proceeds of cocaine trafficking there are significantly higher than European markets,” said Europol in a statement.
“The supply route includes Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, with trans-shipment via Southern Europe and Africa towards Australia. If one kilo of cocaine costs several thousand euros in the source countries, it could reach more than 100,000 euros [$164,000] on the Australian black market.”
Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, said Ulic was the organiser of the alleged plot and considered him a “high-value target”.
“The targeted individuals were closely linked to various Montenegrin criminal cells active within a larger drug-trafficking network spread across the Balkan region and beyond,” Europol said in a media release last week about the operation, codenamed “General”.
“They were able to supply cocaine from source countries and transport it for final distribution in European and Australian end markets.”
Ulic will remain remanded behind bars for up to 30 days, a spokeswoman for a high court in Montenegro told local news website Libertas.
While Australia does not have an extradition treaty with Montenegro, extraditions are possible through a legal regulation. However, Montenegro does not extradite its own citizens, meaning Ulic is unlikely to face the NSW justice system for his alleged role in the cocaine conspiracy.
Ulic was also arrested in Podgorica on drugs charges in 2017, serving two years in prison for his role in an attempt to smuggle $40 million worth of ecstasy into Australia.
At the time, then-Australian Federal Police organised crime commander Bruce Hill told reporters: “We can categorically, without any doubt, say he is one of the kingpins if not the kingpin of bringing drugs to Australia … he’s a very sophisticated high-level crime figure.”
Born in Albania, Ulic moved to Sydney in the early 1970s where he became involved with the underworld scene on Kings Cross’ Golden Mile. His name featured heavily in the Wood Royal Commission into Police Corruption. Since being offshore, police say he has run a significant drug empire from his hillside compound on the outskirts of Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica.
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