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& #39;s global scope — and stunned that it remains active. 2/ https://www.occrp.org/en/group-america/the-hardest-working-drug-gang-youve-never-heard-of">https://www.occrp.org/en/group-...
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/ https://www.occrp.org/en/group-america/zoran-jaksics-last-hurrah-in-peru">https://www.occrp.org/en/group-...
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/
Despite his criminal reputation in Europe, Group America& #39;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/
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/ #interactive">https://www.occrp.org/en/group-america/ #interactive">https://www.occrp.org/en/group-...
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