The Western Balkan Mafia and its Operations: Vienna's Most Dangerous Shadow War
It is a hidden war that has long since left its mark in the heart of Vienna: The merciless power struggle between the Kavač and Škaljari clans, two of the most powerful drug cartels in Europe, is shaking not only their home country of Montenegro but also Austria and the rest of the world. One of Europe's most wanted criminals from these cartels has vanished into thin air. Austria is determined to track him down.
The villages of Kavač and Škaljari are located in the idyllic Bay of Kotor, in the municipality of Kotor, Montenegro, and are the origin of some of Europe's most notorious criminal syndicates. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons; Pavle cikovac, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)
At the center of the bloody network is Radoje Zvicer, 42 years old, leader of the Kavač clan, and one of the most wanted criminals in Europe, as the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" reports. He is a phantom, a ghost who keeps escaping despite multiple assassination attempts - most recently in Kyiv in 2020. Austria's authorities are now hunting him down at full speed, as Zvicer is said not only to have smuggled huge quantities of cocaine into Vienna but also to have planned murders on Viennese soil.
The race against time
Daniel Lichtenegger, head of the special unit AG Achilles in the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, is considered one of the best experts on clan structures, as reported by "Der Standard". He assumes that Zvicer is alive and continues to run his drug business - probably more intensively than ever before. The race comes down to one crucial question: who will find Zvicer first - the police or his mortal enemies, the Škaljari? In the clan world, every murder is usually followed by an immediate vendetta. And the professionalization of the clans makes investigations considerably more difficult. Zvicer is like a ghost, elusive and extremely mobile.
The hunt for a phantom
Zvicer has been the subject of a Europe-wide arrest warrant since November 2024. Austrian investigators are using state-of-the-art technology, access to decrypted crypto-communications, and international contacts to track him down. But the Kavač capo has passports under 15 different identities and uses convoluted routes via South America, the Balkans, and Europe. Even at border crossings, it remains unclear whether the passport holder is Zvicer - passports are often bundled together for stamping to cover their tracks. Investigators know: that Zvicer's preferences - his hobbies, favorite sports, and social contacts - could ultimately give him away.
A trail of blood through Vienna
The most spectacular case: In December 2018, Vladimir R., a Kavač member, was shot dead in the middle of Vienna's city center in front of the traditional Figlmüller restaurant, as reported by "Der Standard". One year later, almost the next catastrophe: Škaljari assassins planned a car bomb in a Viennese pub garden, which only failed due to a faulty detonator. Shortly afterward, Colombian contract killers were to take out a high-ranking clan member in a Serbian restaurant in Ottakring - again, communication problems prevented the massacre.
It was later discovered that the murder order originated from the clans' encrypted communication networks, including via SkyECC, the so-called “WhatsApp of gangsters”, which gave European investigators unprecedented insight into the underworld in 2021.
The war of the clans
The history of the rival clans dates back to 2014. Once allied smugglers on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro, the alliance between Kavač and Škaljari broke down after the disappearance of 200 kilograms of cocaine in Valencia. Since then, a brutal war has been raging, which is estimated to have claimed at least 80 to 100 lives - from the Balkans to the Netherlands and Vienna.
The Kavač are considered to be particularly ruthless: torture chambers, crushed rivals, and contract killings on three continents paint their picture. Their Viennese governor Dario D., known as "Dexter" after the notorious serial killer, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023. He had imported drugs worth millions and cruelly executed enemies.
Vienna's hidden front
What Vienna's population hardly knows is that a highly professional network of organized crime is rampant beneath the city's smooth surface. Restaurants, shisha bars, and luxury apartments serve as meeting places and money laundering institutions. Cocaine transports travel from South America to Europe - often via Vienna - and generate billions in revenue for the clans.
In their logistics and structure, the clans resemble multinational corporations: encrypted communication, changing identities, and mobile networks. Zvicer himself is said to travel with 15 different alias passports. Investigators report that clan members are constantly moving to where the danger is lowest - be it on skiing vacations in Austria, in luxury hotels in South America, or under the protection of Kosovar militias.
The power of the Balkan mafia
Today, the influence of the Balkan mafia extends far beyond the Balkans. Kavač and Škaljari clans operate throughout Europe, are networked in the cocaine trade with South America, and are increasingly involved in arms smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering. They have established strong structures in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Austria in particular. Thanks to their international network and ability to infiltrate state institutions in corrupt regions, they are developing a dangerous parallel world that threatens the rule of law and public security.
The loose but well-connected organization with other mafia clans in the Balkans and the ties to corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in the Western Balkans enable them to project more power than previously suspected. The many loose connections to other structures in Europe and the Balkans and the "flat hierarchies" for mafia syndicates make it difficult for the police to completely dismantle these organizations.
Why Austria must act
Austria is in the spotlight because the country has become an important transit and distribution center for drug smuggling due to its central location in Europe. Vienna not only serves as a logistics hub but increasingly also as a retreat and base of operations for criminal Balkan clans.
Another reason: is the clans' increasing willingness to use violence, which manifests itself in public murders and attack plans, poses a massive threat to internal security. To avoid becoming the "European hub of organized crime", Austrian authorities have a great interest in dismantling the structures of these networks at an early stage - through international cooperation, undercover operations, and tough criminal prosecution.
The global threat
But the Balkan clans are by no means alone. Similar structures exist in the Netherlands ("Mocro Mafia"), Mexico, and Colombia. The "Mocro Mafia" around Ridouan Taghi is particularly perfidious, with its killers executing not only rivals but also key witnesses, their lawyers, and journalists.
Overall, European authorities have recorded massive successes since the decryption of SkyECC: over 400 arrests in the clan milieu, a thousand years in prison sentences imposed, and drugs in the three-digit ton range seized. Nevertheless, the challenge remains huge: the clans adapt quickly, operate internationally, and skillfully exploit the weaknesses of the European border regime.
Austria in their sights
For Austria, this means increased vigilance. The Kavač clan has long had a foot in the door in Vienna. And even if governors like "Dexter" are behind bars, new generations of criminals are emerging - often more brutal and unscrupulous than their predecessors.
The police continue to rely on international cooperation and undercover investigation teams such as “AG Achilles” to dismantle the structures. But one thing is clear: the Balkan mafia's shadow war will keep Vienna busy for a long time to come.