Marijuana plantation on the “Jovanjica” estate

Category: Above the law

Period: from 13 Nov 2019

Outcome: Indictment filed (as of 15 Oct 2026)

In November 2019, police discovered marijuana crops on the estate of the company “Jovanjica” near Stara Pazova, majority-owned by Predrag Koluvija, and seized around 650 kilograms of dried marijuana. According to the indictment, members of the police, the BIA and the Military Intelligence Agency were part of Koluvija's group and protected the estate; all the defendants deny guilt. The inspectors who uncovered the plantation have been under attack ever since: they were removed from their posts and are guarded by the SAJ special police unit. The trial before the Special Department of the Belgrade Higher Court is ongoing, and there is no verdict (October 2026).

Plantation near Stara Pazova

In November 2019, the police stopped Predrag Koluvija, majority owner of the company Jovanjica, carrying a fake police badge.

The police then found marijuana plantations on the company's estate near Stara Pazova, known for producing organic food, and seized around 650 kilograms of dried marijuana and more than 65,000 plants. Nine people were arrested.

Officials, Moscow and state loans

Government officials had previously visited the estate, and in 2019 Koluvija attended a business forum in Moscow with a delegation led by President Vučić. The state export financing agency approved at least three loans to the company totalling €3.9 million.

The prosecution dismissed a criminal complaint against President Vučić and his brother, and the president, ministers and the prime minister publicly called the affair fabricated.

Two indictments

The Organised Crime Prosecutor's Office brought two indictments. The first (Jovanjica 1, May 2020) charged Koluvija and his associates on the estate with producing and selling marijuana.

The second (Jovanjica 2, confirmed in January 2021) charged members of the police, the BIA and the Military Intelligence Agency, who the prosecution claims protected the estate and passed confidential information to Koluvija. All the defendants deny guilt; Koluvija claims he was growing industrial hemp and that the police framed him.

A trial without a verdict

The proceedings were joined in 2024 and restarted in 2025 after a change of judge. In 2023 the court excluded around 660 kilograms of marijuana from the evidence because of an unlawful search, but in 2024 the Court of Appeal returned it to the evidence.

According to the latest reports (October 2026), the trial before the Special Department of the Belgrade Higher Court is ongoing, and there is no verdict.

The inspectors who uncovered the plantation

Inspectors Slobodan Milenković and Dušan Mitić, who uncovered the plantation, have been under attack ever since. In 2022, a former state secretary at the Interior Ministry publicly accused Milenković of having „staged“ the affair, and the prosecution looked into him; charges over a separate incident were brought against three inspectors from his department a few hours after one of them testified in the Jovanjica case, and that trial had still not ended in 2026.

Mitić told the court about pressure from the top of the state, and both were removed from their posts in 2023, ahead of Milenković's testimony.

A €100,000 offer

According to an official note by Milenković, in June 2022 an intermediary told him that Vladimir Đukanović, Koluvija's defence lawyer, and Aleksandar Papić, owner of the tabloid “Objektiv”, were offering him €100,000 and a promotion to “come to an arrangement” over the case. He turned the offer down; Đukanović calls this a “notorious lie”.

The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office said it had forwarded the note to the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime as “strictly confidential”. According to Vreme and NIN, the note carries no classification marking, and there is no information that its claims were checked. Đukanović sued journalist Vuk Cvijić for publishing the note.

Threats, surveillance and transfer

Since the dismissal of Milenković and Mitić, the SAJ special police unit has guarded them because of threats, but their protection was scaled back in 2026.

Milenković reported that he was being followed by members of the BIA, and in 2026 he was moved out of the criminal police. The Administrative and Constitutional Court have not ruled on his lawsuits even after three years.

Participants

Serbian Progressive Party: Its MP Vladimir Đukanović defended Koluvija, and its official Miloš Vučević filed a complaint against Vučić and his brother (commented on the case)
Predrag Koluvija: According to the indictment, he organised the growing and sale of marijuana on the "Jovanjica" estate, where about 650 kilograms were seized; he denies guilt (responsible)
Jovanjica: Marijuana plantations were discovered on the company's estate near Stara Pazova and about 650 kilograms were seized; according to Insajder, it received €3.9 million in loans from the state (responsible)
Security Information Agency: Has not sent the court the requested classified documents for nine months; according to Milenković's lawyer, its members followed and filmed the inspector (responsible)
Military Intelligence Agency: According to the confirmed “Jovanjica 2” indictment, one of its members is among those indicted for drug trafficking and disclosing classified information (commented on the case)
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia: Some ten days before Milenković's testimony, he removed the inspectors who had uncovered the plantation, and his police officers are among those indicted (responsible)
Aleksandar Vučić: He confirmed that Koluvija had been with him at a forum in Moscow and questioned the detention (commented on the case)
Nebojša Stefanović: He said he was ready to answer any question from state authorities and to take a polygraph (commented on the case)
Bratislav Gašić: The removal of the inspectors who uncovered the plantation came from his office; inspector Mitić says he put pressure on them (responsible)
Andrej Vučić: According to Koluvija, the Interior Ministry offered him his freedom if he falsely accused the president's brother; the prosecution found no grounds for suspicion of a link (harmed)
Vladimir Đukanović: According to a note by inspector Milenković, he offered him €100,000 to drop the case, which he denies; he called the inspector a “narco boss” (responsible)
Aleksandar Vulin: He visited the estate in 2015, and in parliament asked why the opposition had not accused Hilandar (commented on the case)
Ana Brnabić: She told parliament she had loved the tomatoes from Jovanjica, so she had, she supposed, financed drug traffickers (commented on the case)
Miloš Vučević: He filed a criminal complaint against President Vučić and his brother (commented on the case)
Public Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime: It ordered an investigation, filed indictments and said there were no grounds to suspect that Vučić and his brother had been in contact with Koluvija (investigation and courts)
Saša Drecun: According to inspector Mitić's testimony, he was among those who put pressure on Mitić and his colleagues working on “Jovanjica” (responsible)
Higher Court in Belgrade: It confirmed the indictment and merged the proceedings, and the panel excluded the evidence from the search (investigation and courts)
Zoran Ganić: As presiding judge, he excluded from evidence everything from the search of the estate, including the marijuana (investigation and courts)
Court of Appeal in Belgrade: It released Koluvija to house arrest, reinstated the search evidence and upheld the verdict against KRIK (investigation and courts)
Miroslav Aleksić: He made the details of the case public after the police and the prosecution stayed silent (oversight and the public)
KRIK: Newsroom convicted in Koluvija's lawsuits over the phrase “indicted drug boss” (harmed)
Dijana Hrkalović: In 2022 she said that Stefanović and inspector Milenković had “fabricated” the affair, after which the prosecution looked into Milenković (commented on the case)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Special Department for Combating Corruption: It took the case of the inspectors who uncovered “Jovanjica” away from a prosecutor who saw no offence, and charged them hours after testimony (responsible)
Internal Control Sector of the Interior Ministry (MUP): On the prosecution's orders, it arrested two inspectors on suspicion of beating up two men (investigation and courts)
Supreme Court: It dismissed the defence's request as inadmissible, thereby upholding the return of the evidence from the search (investigation and courts)
Administrative Court: According to Milenković's lawyers, it has not ruled on the lawsuit over his dismissal for almost three years (investigation and courts)
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia: According to Milenković's lawyers, it has not ruled on the request on the right to life for more than three and a half years (investigation and courts)
Aleksandar Papić: According to inspector Milenković's note, he and Đukanović offered him €100,000 to drop the case (responsible)