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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
@OCCRP
Sep 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
NEW: Meet #GroupAmerica, one of the most pervasive and violent drug-trafficking gangs you’ve never heard of.

Some say its name stems from rumored ties between the gang's leaders and the US government — maybe even the CIA. 1/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
In the 1980s, a Serb took control of the Westies, a New York Irish-American gang that became Group America.

Decades later, police around the world are impressed by the gang's global scope — and stunned that it remains active. 2/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Unlike the cartels that control the whole cocaine supply chain, Group America specializes in being the middleman between sellers in Europe and producers in South America — where the gang’s second-in-command may be in prison for life. 3/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
OCCRP journalist Pavla Holcová (@pafak) had to pose as a prostitute to interview this notorious gangster in Peruvian prison.

Read her first-hand account of the conversation. 4/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As the founder and editor of @investigacecz, our Czech member center, Holcová also investigated Group America’s influence in Slovakia — a coveted EU jurisdiction for traffickers in part because of lax residency laws. 5/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Group America has operations in several countries, but much of its money is invested in Serbia, the gang’s center of operations since the fall of Yugoslavia. 6/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
But Group America’s influence in Serbia extends beyond drug money investments.

Its members were linked to acts of terrorism and assassinations against reformist politicians after the ouster of Slobodan Milošević.

Story reported by @StevanOCCRP 7/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As Group America’s second-in-command sits in Peruvian prison, its leader continues to live comfortably in Queens, NY despite a drug trafficking indictment that has languished since 2003.

Federal officials declined comment on the unusual case. 8/ Miljanić’s row house in Que...
Despite his criminal reputation in Europe, Group America's leader Mileta Miljanić lives in the open in New York and in Serbia.

Here he is with Serbia’s foreign minister during a 2016 televised event in Manhattan. 9/ Image
More than one senior police source has attributed Group America’s success to ties with security and intelligence agencies.

Our reporting indicates that the gang may indeed have an "in" with the U.S. government. 10/
From terrorism in Belgrade to cocaine-trafficking on four continents.

Use this timeline for a tick-tock into Group America’s decades-long history of organized crime, which starts in New York in the 1970s. 11/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…

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More from @OCCRP

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Dec 4
Confidential documents show the inner workings of cocaine smuggling from Ecuador to Europe via fruit shipments — and reveal some of the alleged top bananas 🍌

Here’s how the documents connect cocaine, bananas, and a convicted Balkan drug lord. Image
In 2021, two alleged traffickers said on an encrypted message app that “no one but them” was allowed to smuggle cocaine in containers exported by Noboa Trading, according to Croatian prosecutors’ documents. Image
One of these alleged traffickers involved in loading the shipments was fugitive Nikola Đorđević, according to docs obtained by @KRIKrs.

A separate gang headed by convicted Montenegrin drug lord Darko Šarić was allegedly responsible for offloading cocaine in Croatia, files say.
Read 8 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Nov 12
Days before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Belarusian government sold a plot of land in an exclusive Russian ski resort town for 20 times cheaper than its market value.

Now an elite ‘hotel complex’ is being built on that land — but not just for anyone. Image
The development includes VIP villas and Turkish spas, as well as high-security features like guard posts and a drone suppression system.

It may be intended for Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

occrp.org/en/investigati…
Last year, @osbbelpol and @Belsat_TV reported that the site had been transferred on Lukashenko’s orders to a private Russian company run by people tied to his “right-hand man,” Viktor Sheiman.

Now, @BelarusFiles has obtained new information on the money behind the complex — and whose name is on the documents.

Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of BelarusImage
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Nov 9
🌎Here's this week's round-the-world roundup of OCCRP's biggest stories and scoops
Newly obtained documents reveal the people and companies who paid for the elite development near the Russian resort city of Sochi. Many have ties to Viktor Sheiman, a regime enforcer often described as Belarusian Dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s “right hand" occrp.org/en/investigati…
Why are some European drug gangs burying cocaine instead of selling It? Wholesale prices are in the gutter across much of Europe, forcing drug smugglers to try to manipulate the market. OCCRP explains the factors affecting Europe's cocaine supply in 2025: occrp.org/en/feature/faq…
Read 4 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Nov 7
This plot of land near the Russian resort town of Sochi used to belong to the Belarusian government.

Now there’s an elite development being built there. What’s going on? Image
These documents show how Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered the land to be sold to a Russian company — for 5% of its market value. Image
And this blueprint shows some of the luxurious amenities in the main building.

Not pictured: the anti-ram steel fence, six guard posts, thermal imagers, a drone-suppression system, and technology to detect radioactive materials.

Who’s all of this for? Image
Read 4 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Sep 28
On September 28, World News Day unites newsrooms worldwide to showcase the power of fact-based reporting amid rising authoritarianism, misinformation, and Big Tech dominance. #WND2025 Image
What would your feed look like without fact-based journalism?
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#ChooseTruth because #JournalismMatters Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Jul 27
Canada is trying to deport Jimmy DeMaria, allegedly a senior figure in the "Siderno Group,” which authorities say is a Toronto-based branch of Italy’s ’Ndrangheta mafia. As @CBC reports, the case hinges on foreign wiretaps — raising questions about foreign interference and constitutional rights in Canada. cbc.ca/news/politics/…Image
@CBC cites two OCCRP reports about the Siderno Group, including our 2024 deep dive, in collaboratiion with the @TorontoStar, into how Italy’s ’Ndrangheta mafia allegedly used personal ties inside two major Canadian banks: ​​occrp.org/en/investigati…
One of the alleged leaders of the Toronto faction of the ’Ndrangheta was Italian immigrant Angelo Figliomeni, who appears to have had close relationships with employees at the Royal Bank of Canada and TD.

“You’re never busy for your banker. You know that, eh? Your accountant, your banker — even more important than the priest,” a financial planner at TD told Figliomeni’s senior associate.
Read 8 tweets

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