September 14, 2023 • 27 mins
How did the three young thieves from the Dubai heist get their start in a life of crime? Mladen, Bojana and Milan came of age together in the Serbian city of Niš amid civil war, economic sanctions and a thriving black-market economy. After being recruited by criminal gangs, they pull off their first heist together and, in the process, create their own playbook for their future as Pink Panthers.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's October fifth, two thousand. The warm winds of democracy
have been blowing across the Balkans, the Eastern European region
that was once Yugoslavia.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
So the key figure that emerges out of this pro
democracy movement during the nineties.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Is Zori Jingish.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
American journalist Lily Lynch is editor in chief of Balkanist magazine.
She lived in the former Yugoslavia for over a decade.
In two thousand and one, Zoran Jingj became the first
democratically elected prime minister of Serbia.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
He's the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, and he
has been described as sort of the Serbian JFK. He
spoke German and English and could speak very well to
the West, and the West had a lot of hopes
that he would kind of represent in new Serbia.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Jingij came to power on the promise that he would
root out organized crime. Criminal gangs had been on the
rise in Serbia since the early nineties. Putting a stop
to them would be his number one priority, but he
never had a chance.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Zoran Jingvich were shot outside this government building in Belgrade,
who was hit in the stomach and back, reportedly by
sniper fire. From across the street, who was taken to
a hospital in Belgrade, where he died shortly afterwards.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
His murder sent a clear message Serbia's criminal gangs were
more determined, better funded, and more powerful than any politician
in Serbia. They were the real bosses. I'm Natalia Antalava.
(01:50):
I'm a journalist based in Eastern Europe, and I'm going
to take you into the world of Serbia's most brazen
jewel thieves.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
The most daring and successful diamond thieves in the world.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
Thirty to forty seconds, they're in, they're out.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
They've stolen half a billion dollars worth of valuables.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Two well dressed men strolled into an exclusive jewelry store
in London and walked out with sixty six million dollars
in joyals.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
They called the Pink Panthers. They're loosely connected group of
over educated, underemployed, ambitious young people who rose from the
ashes of the Yugoslav Wars of the nineteen nineties to
commit elaborate smash and grab heists all across the globe,
often in broad daylight. This is infamous international The Pink
(02:45):
Panther Story Episode three, Niche dead of thieves. Last time,
we learned how the Pink Panthers developed an international brand.
They traveled to the world's most glamorous cities London, Paris, Monaco,
(03:09):
even Tokyo to commit brazen heights with speed and precision,
sometimes employing elaborate costumes and ingenious techniques to full security measures.
They escape on speedboats or luxury cars, or they disappear
into the crowd. Each crime is more cinematic than the last,
(03:29):
culminating in the heights at the Waffi mont in Dubai.
There were three young criminals at the center of that story,
the mastermind Landon Lazarevich, his girlfriend and co conspirator, Boyani Mitch,
and their close friend, the dashing Milan li Puya, all
three in their twenties and all from the same hometown,
(03:52):
the Serbian city of Niche. So how did these bright
young things get wrapped up in the high stakes world
of international crime. To answer that question, we need to
go back to the nineteen eighties and the height of
the Cold War. Serbia was still part of Yugoslavia, an
(04:13):
Eastern European country made up of six states, including Bosnia
and Croatia. Serbia was the largest of them the dominant power,
and at that time Yugoslavia was a kind of gateway
to the West. Journalist Lilly Lynch again, it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Was sort of in between the Soviet Union and the West.
It was considerably more open in many ways than the
Eastern countries, so it was kind of unique in Eastern Europe.
Speaker 7 (04:39):
A popular misconception about Yugoslavia is that it is a
neighboring country of the Soviet Union. In actuality, it borders
seven European countries, none of them being Russia. Citizens here
are free to come and go as they please, as
our tourists who need only a passport to enter the country.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Local New York tiv Eastation CACBS ran that segment on
their news magazine show two in the Town back in
nineteen eighty six. You can hear how it works hard
to put some distance between Yugoslavia and the Iron Curtain.
This prosperous, thriving Yugoslavia was the legacy of the so
called benevolent dictator Marshall Yosep Tito. He ruled the country
(05:24):
with an iron fist for over thirty years, but at
least things were stable then in nineteen eighty one, A
year after Tito's death, the AP reported on his legacy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Many feared that the death of Tito would lead to
the breakup of their nation. In many ways, Tito was
the architect of modern Yugoslavia, the one figure with the
prestige and charisma to unite a nation of diverse cultures
and peoples. But aside from unity, he gave his country
independence and pride.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Journalist Yelena Zorich grew up in Tito's Yugoslavia eighties.
Speaker 8 (06:04):
Generally everyone had a nice childhood.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Lena is more comfortable speaking Serbian, so we're hearing her
through a translator.
Speaker 8 (06:12):
All of us who were kids, we were happy with
our childhood our as we say, ex Yugoslavia, that's a
country where the citizens used to sleep with their doors
not locked. You you were feeling completely safe because even
if there were some criminals here, they would be immediately
chased out of the country by our police. They were
practically exported to the West.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
London. Boyana and Milan grew up in this period of stability.
My colleague Elan Greenberg dung into their childhoods.
Speaker 9 (06:45):
Boyana grows up in Niche. This is a really old city.
Dates from Roman times and it's got a ton of history.
It had really a vibrant cafe culture and a lot
of bars, which is kind of surprising. It was once
a thriving industrial they called it electronic city, but that
started dining out in the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
And what is it like for her to grow up
a niche?
Speaker 9 (07:07):
It was pretty typical Natalia. She was raised in the
very middle class family. She was studious, bookish. We know
this because we talked to one of her teachers and
he remembered her really well. She was one of his
top students. She spoke several languages. He remembered that she
wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And what did you find out about Milana Lazarevitch in
his early life? Like what did he do before he
meets Boyana.
Speaker 9 (07:31):
We weren't able to find out a lot about Miladin
in his childhood years. At least the people were able
to reach. They say he was pretty small physically, but
he had real confidence about him, almost a swagger, And
people say he was also really smart.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Milan Lepuya, on the other hand, has a much tougher
time of it as a child. Here's ilenosorig Yeah, Poya
was raised in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Niche.
Speaker 8 (07:59):
He was a chabby little boy who was playing often
with his friends in the streets. Like you know, most
of the people in these poor neighborhoods are growing up.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
A small kid with swagger and an attitude, a smart
girl with big dreams, a chubby boy from the wrong
side of town. But before they're even able to see
what they can achieve in life, their whole world collapses.
Speaker 10 (08:27):
Good evening, We begin again tonight in Yugoslavia, which the
US believes maybe on the verge of coming apart at
the seams. International concern now focuses on the federal army
and what action it may take against the two Yugoslav
republics which have declared their independent Slovenia and Croatia.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
ABC News reported on the sudden kioes that erupts when
brutal far right nationalist Slobodan Miloshovich comes to power in Serbia.
Almost immediately Miloshevich unleashes a decade of bloody wars.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Born Croatia started in nineteen eighty two, and then Bosnia
and then Kosovo.
Speaker 11 (09:13):
The genocidal crimes of the nineteen nineties, Balkan wars stunned
the world, mass killings, concentration camps, systematic rape.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
American media, like in that clip from PBS News Hour,
reports the horrors of the ethnic cleansing and the Serbian
war crimes. In response, the UN, the EU, and the
US all imposed crushing economic sanctions.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Journalist Lilly Lynch Yugoslavia was put understanctions. Serbia is put
under sanctions, so the city is devastating to the economy.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
This is a huge deal. The sanctions prohibit trade with
the outside world. They could of travel in and out
of the country.
Speaker 12 (09:52):
Because of the bad politics we had.
Speaker 8 (09:54):
Because of the wars, the country was completely closed. You
couldn't go out of the country.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Jelena's orig remembers the devastating economic impact the sanctions had
on her country.
Speaker 8 (10:05):
In the nineties, we had the biggest inflation on the
whole planet. Prices where skyrocketing every single day.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
The government cuts off heat and electricity to conserve energy.
There are food shortages, suicide rates skyrocket, elicit trade, the
black market becomes the only game in town.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
The executive sanctions imposed on Serbia totally criminalizes the economy
because you have sanctioned. The supply chain is completely broken down.
You can't find medicine, you can't find steady stream of cigarettes.
Smuggling becomes a huge part of the economy, and that
really starts in the nineties and has never changed.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
In Serbia, the fall of the Soviet Union, the devastating wars,
and the growing black market all create a perfect climate
for criminals. Lenozorich again, our criminals who were chased, who
were exported before the nineties, they started coming back to Serbia.
Speaker 8 (11:08):
They all just showed up out of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
The sudden influx of returning criminals fuels the fast rise
of Balkan gangs throughout the nineteen nineties, and then, after
years of atrocities by the Serbs, NATO moves to put
an end to Milashovich's brutal war by bombing the capital
city of Belgrade. The News Hour with Jim Lahr reported
(11:35):
on the start of the NATO campaign.
Speaker 10 (11:38):
The air war over Kosovo and Yugoslavia began today.
Speaker 7 (11:42):
NATO's first wave attack included dozens of air and sea
launched cruise missiles.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
BBC News broadcast images of the devastation to the Western world.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
There's no doubt about the damage that a month of
bombing has done to Yugoslavia.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Some people are saying it's reduced the country to the
level it was acted in nineteen forty five. The NATO
campaign helps end the wars. Miloshevich is arrested and charged
with war crimes in the Hague. He dies in prison
while still standing trial. ABC News reports that his death
robs his victims of a chance for justice.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
An investigation is underway into what killed the man known
as the Butcher of the Balkans. Jailers and the Hague
found former Yugoslavian President Slovanon Melosovich dead in his cell today.
His death allows him to escape justice after four years
of his war crimes trial.
Speaker 13 (12:40):
Here it is probably the place to say a few
words about the post Yugoslav War and especially with the
role of Serbia.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That's doctor Yana Hashamova, chair of the Department of Slavic
and East European Languages and Cultures at Ohio State University.
Speaker 13 (12:58):
Serbia was a dominant somewhat similar to the position of
Russia in the Soviet Union. After the Yugoslav War, Serbia
lost that national identity of being the center of that
Federation found themselves in an unfavorable situation, found themselves victimized
by the West and NATO.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
The resentment for the West is strong. The people of
Serbia are bitter about the NATO bombings and still feel
the effects of a decade of economic sanctions.
Speaker 13 (13:29):
What was possible for them before the war was no
longer possible, meaning having free access to the West, abilities
to work. There was a resentment built to the West
with its riches and wealth and fleshy.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Lifestyle, isolation, lack of opportunity and simmering resentment. It could
be enough to turn a good man bad or a
woman for that matter. And when they do turn bad,
there is no better place to be than Niche, the
hometown of laden Boyana and Milan.
Speaker 11 (14:06):
In the Serbia, and during nineties many people succeed in
getting a lot of money when some strong criminal groups
during the war. Tunish was on the cross road for
those criminal groups.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Gordana Bielatch is an investigative journalist based in Niche.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
And they used when there was not that much official
control to create a safe route for them that they
could take drugs or anything wherever they wanted.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
And the southern.
Speaker 11 (14:39):
Serbia is close two different borders. That's why their route
it was through Niche.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So in a country decimated by war and shunned by
the world, the city of Niche becomes a crossroads between
east and West crime, an opportunity at bustling treating post
for smugglers and thieves. Despite his humble beginnings, Milan Lipoya
(15:14):
seems to thrive in post war Serbia. He's smart and
he's accepted into a prestigious university, but crime is all
around him. A Niche is just everywhere. Jolenos rich again controllers.
Speaker 8 (15:31):
As soon as he turned the eighteen he started doing
little robberies mostly and the little boutique shops when he
was practically steal and branded clothing, which was very popular here.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Milan is growing up fast and his new lifestyle suits him.
Speaker 8 (15:49):
As I was telling you, he was pretty chubby when
he was a teenager, so not very attractive to the girls.
But then he lost some weight and he was always
well dressed because he had all these designers clothes on
him that he was getting in Italy. So he became
even more popular with the girls them as he was
getting more mature.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
For a while, he lives a double life student by
day thief by night. But Milan is developing a reputation
even beyond Serbia. By the time he's graduating high school.
A school trip with his classmates shows just how recognizable
he's become.
Speaker 8 (16:29):
So in the nineties, there was a group of graduated
high school students. They went to their final school trip
in Verona and they went to one of the boutiques
just to check it out and to see some of
the most famous Italian designers close. And when a manager
(16:50):
of that shop, when he saw a group of the
Serbian students coming in, he calls security immediately because they
knew about Milaniapoya and there was actually a picture of
him on the wall, representing him as a criminal who
was doing all these robberies in Italian boutiques.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Meanwhile, Miladi Lazavich is quietly developing his own criminal reputation.
He learns the art of car theft, he apprentices in
home burglary and pickpocketing. Just like Milan, he shows natural
talent for it. By this time the late nineteen nineties,
a distinct two tiered hierarchy has emerged within the criminal
(17:31):
ecosystem of Niche.
Speaker 14 (17:34):
Top of the chain in the crime was basically cigar smuggling.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's investigative reporter Stevan doo Jinovich, founder and editor in
chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network in Belgrade, Serbia.
Speaker 14 (17:46):
Made strange, but I mean actually cigar smuggling was the
top deals that you can have. So the biggest organistrant
groups are actually patrolling chain of the cigarette smuggling, and
not everyone can really be involved in this.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Cigaret smuggling is a lucrative business and by necessity, those
running the operation are connected to larger international crime syndicates.
This criminal tier and niche becomes known for their flashy
cars and full body tattoos and for their violence. One
step down, the criminal ladder, a loose network of thieves
(18:21):
who work in the West and bring stolen goods and
money back to Serbia. They might not be violent, but
they're being actively recruited by violent people Yelena Zorich.
Speaker 8 (18:34):
Again, they were looking for them in the local bars,
also even in prisons, in various sports club like boxing
club because they knew exactly what kind of people to
look for.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Like any good recruiter, these criminal organizations wanted high quality candidates,
people who were educated and well spoken.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
They were not looking for the people who are using drugs,
for example, they were not interested in that that couldn't happen,
but people who are ready for the robberies. People who
are ready, they were like testing them. When they were
talking to potential new members of their clan, they were
paying attention if, for example, their hands were shaking or
(19:17):
their voice is shaking. So they were very selective in
choosing new people who want to work for them.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Ladon Lazarevich is the first to make the cad. He
goes pro. Melan Lepoyez brought in soon after, and the
two of them Meat and Boyana. Here's Alan Greenberg again.
Speaker 9 (19:37):
She finishes university and she must have did really well
because she gets into one of the top law schools
in Serbia and she was founding her dream of becoming
a lawyer. Remember her teacher said that's what she always
wanted to become.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But this is postwards Serbia and creating a prosperous life
is incredibly difficult, even for an educated young professional.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
No, clearly things don't go as planned. So this is
when Boyana she meets Maladin, and it's not long after
that that she drops out of law school. Practically before
it even begins.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Annoying.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
He fell in love with the wrong guy helenosorig.
Speaker 8 (20:19):
It's not that she had any specific background that turned
her into this, but she she fell in love with
the guy, and she just started doing it with him
because she was in love with him and she wanted
to help him, so she trusted him completely.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Pu Yama's relationship with Vladen Lazarevitch isn't the only factor though.
Speaker 12 (20:38):
It's not just the fact that she fell in love.
It's also the fact that she immediately realized how easier
her life would be if she was involved with someone
like him.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
She really wanted to be a lawyer, and she wanted
to be the one representing those criminals, but then she
realized when she met him that it was much easier
to hire a lawyer who would then represent you.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Buyenna comes to understand early on that being a criminal
in post civil war Serbia was the better career move.
If you had money, you could always hire a lawyer.
And having seen where true opportunity lay, these three young
people were developing their skill sets and putting together their team.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Maladin was the leader of that gang at the moment.
Boyana was Maladen's girlfriend, they were connected with Milan Yefuya
because pectically they were all working together, and then Milan
was very very close to Mladen during various side stated together.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
And soon the three friends are ready to move up
to a new level.
Speaker 15 (21:46):
In the middle of the triangular border of Germany, Austria
and Switzerland lies the treasure of the European Alps, the
Principality of Liechtenstein. Hardly anywhere else in Central Europe has
experienced such a rapid transformation from a dreamy agrarian state
into one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Welcome to Liechtenstein, population thirty nine thousand, small, rich, exclusive,
and virtually crime free, which makes it the perfect location
for Laden, Bojana and Milan to pull off their first
major robbery together. They bring along a couple of trusted
(22:29):
colleagues to help, including a handsome twenty nine year old
Botanian named dushkopos Nan. As it happens, Dushko will also
help on another job a year later, in March of
two thousand and seven, at the Waffi Moon in Dubai.
After scounting targets in an upscale shopping district in Nichtenstein's
capital Vadutes. The gang settles on the Hoober watch and
(22:53):
jewelry shop. Robert Walner is a Liechtenstein prosecutor.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
They held the shop assistant their gunpoints and they broke
into the glass lockers with a hammer, and they stole
a jewelry and cash and slit the whole thing. Talk
about four minutes, and then they left them a stolen car.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That's stolen car. You guessed it. It's an Audi just
like they'll use at the Waffy Mall. This time it's
an elegant blue A four. Everything about this robbery feels
like a dress rehearsal. A young gang writing their playbook
for the future. Though she might be new to the game,
Boyana plays her part like a pro. While the others
(23:43):
are loading up their bags with seven hundred thousand dollars
worth of watches. She's behind the wheel of the Audi
engine running. When the masked robbers comes sprinting out of
the boutique, Bojana already has her foot on the gas
and they're gone. The Liechtenstein police don't know what hit them.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Lietenstein is a low crime country, wet and often have
crimes committed like this. Obviously, our police are not so
used they're having this kind of criminal.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
After their initial shock, local law enforcement leaps into action,
putting up roadblocks, deploying border guards, and notifying authorities in
neighboring countries. But the young Pink Panthers disappear without a trace,
well almost.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
They're not the perfect Roberts. Police found the car in Switzerland,
and the DNA was found in the car and in
the shop.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
It is this DNA that would come into play one
year later when Ron Nobel, an ambitious young American, becomes
director of Interpol. Nobel believes technology and cooperation are the
keys to stop criminals like the Pink Panthers, and he
just might be right, and the same DNA found in
(25:07):
an outing in Switzerland in two thousand and six would
eventually be connected to another heist over four thousand miles
away one year later in Dubai. Coming up next on
Infamous International, the Pink Panthers story, it's been open season
(25:28):
around the world for the Pink Panthers, but law enforcement
might finally be catching up to them.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
The start of a manhunt, the cops learn about the
apartment they link DNA from the car and the apartment
to a bunch of suspects, including Milan le Poea.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
Both of them, they were feeling that they would be
much safer in Serbia because once they come to Serbia,
definitely they will be protected from Dubai police.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
But the police still have to combat the image the
Pink Panthers and the media have managed to create.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
I think that this history created a figure of a
glamorous celebrity criminal.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
When they were committing the robbery, they went on violin,
but when you have a weapon in your face sycolotically,
it was very violent for people. That's next time on
Infamous International, The Pink Panthers Story. Infamous International The Pink
(26:33):
Panthers Story was produced by best Case Studios in association
with Koda's Story, hosted by me Natalia ant Lava and
written by Katrina Wolfe, Adam Pinkis, Susanne Myers, and David Markowitz,
with help from Brent Katz and Matt Levin. For Best
Case Studios. Executive producer Adam Pinkers, Senior Producer David Markowitz,
(27:00):
U Katrina Wolfe, Associate producer Hannah Libovitz, Lockart and Consulting
Producers Julie Goldstein and Louis Spiegler for Koda. Story reporting
by Lane Greenberg with associate producer Rebecca Robinson. Edited and
sound designed by Gaylon Mullens and Max Michael Miller. Music
(27:20):
by Dave Harrington. Archival producers Mark Degora and Paul Dallas.
This has been an exactly right production. Executive producers Karen
Kilgareth Georgia hart Stark, and Daniel Kramer, with consulting producer
Kyle Ryan
It's October fifth, two thousand. The warm winds of democracy
have been blowing across the Balkans, the Eastern European region
that was once Yugoslavia.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
So the key figure that emerges out of this pro
democracy movement during the nineties.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Is Zori Jingish.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
American journalist Lily Lynch is editor in chief of Balkanist magazine.
She lived in the former Yugoslavia for over a decade.
In two thousand and one, Zoran Jingj became the first
democratically elected prime minister of Serbia.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
He's the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, and he
has been described as sort of the Serbian JFK. He
spoke German and English and could speak very well to
the West, and the West had a lot of hopes
that he would kind of represent in new Serbia.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Jingij came to power on the promise that he would
root out organized crime. Criminal gangs had been on the
rise in Serbia since the early nineties. Putting a stop
to them would be his number one priority, but he
never had a chance.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Zoran Jingvich were shot outside this government building in Belgrade,
who was hit in the stomach and back, reportedly by
sniper fire. From across the street, who was taken to
a hospital in Belgrade, where he died shortly afterwards.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
His murder sent a clear message Serbia's criminal gangs were
more determined, better funded, and more powerful than any politician
in Serbia. They were the real bosses. I'm Natalia Antalava.
(01:50):
I'm a journalist based in Eastern Europe, and I'm going
to take you into the world of Serbia's most brazen
jewel thieves.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
The most daring and successful diamond thieves in the world.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
Thirty to forty seconds, they're in, they're out.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
They've stolen half a billion dollars worth of valuables.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Two well dressed men strolled into an exclusive jewelry store
in London and walked out with sixty six million dollars
in joyals.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
They called the Pink Panthers. They're loosely connected group of
over educated, underemployed, ambitious young people who rose from the
ashes of the Yugoslav Wars of the nineteen nineties to
commit elaborate smash and grab heists all across the globe,
often in broad daylight. This is infamous international The Pink
(02:45):
Panther Story Episode three, Niche dead of thieves. Last time,
we learned how the Pink Panthers developed an international brand.
They traveled to the world's most glamorous cities London, Paris, Monaco,
(03:09):
even Tokyo to commit brazen heights with speed and precision,
sometimes employing elaborate costumes and ingenious techniques to full security measures.
They escape on speedboats or luxury cars, or they disappear
into the crowd. Each crime is more cinematic than the last,
(03:29):
culminating in the heights at the Waffi mont in Dubai.
There were three young criminals at the center of that story,
the mastermind Landon Lazarevich, his girlfriend and co conspirator, Boyani Mitch,
and their close friend, the dashing Milan li Puya, all
three in their twenties and all from the same hometown,
(03:52):
the Serbian city of Niche. So how did these bright
young things get wrapped up in the high stakes world
of international crime. To answer that question, we need to
go back to the nineteen eighties and the height of
the Cold War. Serbia was still part of Yugoslavia, an
(04:13):
Eastern European country made up of six states, including Bosnia
and Croatia. Serbia was the largest of them the dominant power,
and at that time Yugoslavia was a kind of gateway
to the West. Journalist Lilly Lynch again, it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Was sort of in between the Soviet Union and the West.
It was considerably more open in many ways than the
Eastern countries, so it was kind of unique in Eastern Europe.
Speaker 7 (04:39):
A popular misconception about Yugoslavia is that it is a
neighboring country of the Soviet Union. In actuality, it borders
seven European countries, none of them being Russia. Citizens here
are free to come and go as they please, as
our tourists who need only a passport to enter the country.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Local New York tiv Eastation CACBS ran that segment on
their news magazine show two in the Town back in
nineteen eighty six. You can hear how it works hard
to put some distance between Yugoslavia and the Iron Curtain.
This prosperous, thriving Yugoslavia was the legacy of the so
called benevolent dictator Marshall Yosep Tito. He ruled the country
(05:24):
with an iron fist for over thirty years, but at
least things were stable then in nineteen eighty one, A
year after Tito's death, the AP reported on his legacy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Many feared that the death of Tito would lead to
the breakup of their nation. In many ways, Tito was
the architect of modern Yugoslavia, the one figure with the
prestige and charisma to unite a nation of diverse cultures
and peoples. But aside from unity, he gave his country
independence and pride.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Journalist Yelena Zorich grew up in Tito's Yugoslavia eighties.
Speaker 8 (06:04):
Generally everyone had a nice childhood.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Lena is more comfortable speaking Serbian, so we're hearing her
through a translator.
Speaker 8 (06:12):
All of us who were kids, we were happy with
our childhood our as we say, ex Yugoslavia, that's a
country where the citizens used to sleep with their doors
not locked. You you were feeling completely safe because even
if there were some criminals here, they would be immediately
chased out of the country by our police. They were
practically exported to the West.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
London. Boyana and Milan grew up in this period of stability.
My colleague Elan Greenberg dung into their childhoods.
Speaker 9 (06:45):
Boyana grows up in Niche. This is a really old city.
Dates from Roman times and it's got a ton of history.
It had really a vibrant cafe culture and a lot
of bars, which is kind of surprising. It was once
a thriving industrial they called it electronic city, but that
started dining out in the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
And what is it like for her to grow up
a niche?
Speaker 9 (07:07):
It was pretty typical Natalia. She was raised in the
very middle class family. She was studious, bookish. We know
this because we talked to one of her teachers and
he remembered her really well. She was one of his
top students. She spoke several languages. He remembered that she
wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And what did you find out about Milana Lazarevitch in
his early life? Like what did he do before he
meets Boyana.
Speaker 9 (07:31):
We weren't able to find out a lot about Miladin
in his childhood years. At least the people were able
to reach. They say he was pretty small physically, but
he had real confidence about him, almost a swagger, And
people say he was also really smart.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Milan Lepuya, on the other hand, has a much tougher
time of it as a child. Here's ilenosorig Yeah, Poya
was raised in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Niche.
Speaker 8 (07:59):
He was a chabby little boy who was playing often
with his friends in the streets. Like you know, most
of the people in these poor neighborhoods are growing up.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
A small kid with swagger and an attitude, a smart
girl with big dreams, a chubby boy from the wrong
side of town. But before they're even able to see
what they can achieve in life, their whole world collapses.
Speaker 10 (08:27):
Good evening, We begin again tonight in Yugoslavia, which the
US believes maybe on the verge of coming apart at
the seams. International concern now focuses on the federal army
and what action it may take against the two Yugoslav
republics which have declared their independent Slovenia and Croatia.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
ABC News reported on the sudden kioes that erupts when
brutal far right nationalist Slobodan Miloshovich comes to power in Serbia.
Almost immediately Miloshevich unleashes a decade of bloody wars.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Born Croatia started in nineteen eighty two, and then Bosnia
and then Kosovo.
Speaker 11 (09:13):
The genocidal crimes of the nineteen nineties, Balkan wars stunned
the world, mass killings, concentration camps, systematic rape.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
American media, like in that clip from PBS News Hour,
reports the horrors of the ethnic cleansing and the Serbian
war crimes. In response, the UN, the EU, and the
US all imposed crushing economic sanctions.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Journalist Lilly Lynch Yugoslavia was put understanctions. Serbia is put
under sanctions, so the city is devastating to the economy.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
This is a huge deal. The sanctions prohibit trade with
the outside world. They could of travel in and out
of the country.
Speaker 12 (09:52):
Because of the bad politics we had.
Speaker 8 (09:54):
Because of the wars, the country was completely closed. You
couldn't go out of the country.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Jelena's orig remembers the devastating economic impact the sanctions had
on her country.
Speaker 8 (10:05):
In the nineties, we had the biggest inflation on the
whole planet. Prices where skyrocketing every single day.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
The government cuts off heat and electricity to conserve energy.
There are food shortages, suicide rates skyrocket, elicit trade, the
black market becomes the only game in town.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
The executive sanctions imposed on Serbia totally criminalizes the economy
because you have sanctioned. The supply chain is completely broken down.
You can't find medicine, you can't find steady stream of cigarettes.
Smuggling becomes a huge part of the economy, and that
really starts in the nineties and has never changed.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
In Serbia, the fall of the Soviet Union, the devastating wars,
and the growing black market all create a perfect climate
for criminals. Lenozorich again, our criminals who were chased, who
were exported before the nineties, they started coming back to Serbia.
Speaker 8 (11:08):
They all just showed up out of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
The sudden influx of returning criminals fuels the fast rise
of Balkan gangs throughout the nineteen nineties, and then, after
years of atrocities by the Serbs, NATO moves to put
an end to Milashovich's brutal war by bombing the capital
city of Belgrade. The News Hour with Jim Lahr reported
(11:35):
on the start of the NATO campaign.
Speaker 10 (11:38):
The air war over Kosovo and Yugoslavia began today.
Speaker 7 (11:42):
NATO's first wave attack included dozens of air and sea
launched cruise missiles.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
BBC News broadcast images of the devastation to the Western world.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
There's no doubt about the damage that a month of
bombing has done to Yugoslavia.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Some people are saying it's reduced the country to the
level it was acted in nineteen forty five. The NATO
campaign helps end the wars. Miloshevich is arrested and charged
with war crimes in the Hague. He dies in prison
while still standing trial. ABC News reports that his death
robs his victims of a chance for justice.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
An investigation is underway into what killed the man known
as the Butcher of the Balkans. Jailers and the Hague
found former Yugoslavian President Slovanon Melosovich dead in his cell today.
His death allows him to escape justice after four years
of his war crimes trial.
Speaker 13 (12:40):
Here it is probably the place to say a few
words about the post Yugoslav War and especially with the
role of Serbia.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That's doctor Yana Hashamova, chair of the Department of Slavic
and East European Languages and Cultures at Ohio State University.
Speaker 13 (12:58):
Serbia was a dominant somewhat similar to the position of
Russia in the Soviet Union. After the Yugoslav War, Serbia
lost that national identity of being the center of that
Federation found themselves in an unfavorable situation, found themselves victimized
by the West and NATO.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
The resentment for the West is strong. The people of
Serbia are bitter about the NATO bombings and still feel
the effects of a decade of economic sanctions.
Speaker 13 (13:29):
What was possible for them before the war was no
longer possible, meaning having free access to the West, abilities
to work. There was a resentment built to the West
with its riches and wealth and fleshy.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Lifestyle, isolation, lack of opportunity and simmering resentment. It could
be enough to turn a good man bad or a
woman for that matter. And when they do turn bad,
there is no better place to be than Niche, the
hometown of laden Boyana and Milan.
Speaker 11 (14:06):
In the Serbia, and during nineties many people succeed in
getting a lot of money when some strong criminal groups
during the war. Tunish was on the cross road for
those criminal groups.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Gordana Bielatch is an investigative journalist based in Niche.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
And they used when there was not that much official
control to create a safe route for them that they
could take drugs or anything wherever they wanted.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
And the southern.
Speaker 11 (14:39):
Serbia is close two different borders. That's why their route
it was through Niche.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So in a country decimated by war and shunned by
the world, the city of Niche becomes a crossroads between
east and West crime, an opportunity at bustling treating post
for smugglers and thieves. Despite his humble beginnings, Milan Lipoya
(15:14):
seems to thrive in post war Serbia. He's smart and
he's accepted into a prestigious university, but crime is all
around him. A Niche is just everywhere. Jolenos rich again controllers.
Speaker 8 (15:31):
As soon as he turned the eighteen he started doing
little robberies mostly and the little boutique shops when he
was practically steal and branded clothing, which was very popular here.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Milan is growing up fast and his new lifestyle suits him.
Speaker 8 (15:49):
As I was telling you, he was pretty chubby when
he was a teenager, so not very attractive to the girls.
But then he lost some weight and he was always
well dressed because he had all these designers clothes on
him that he was getting in Italy. So he became
even more popular with the girls them as he was
getting more mature.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
For a while, he lives a double life student by
day thief by night. But Milan is developing a reputation
even beyond Serbia. By the time he's graduating high school.
A school trip with his classmates shows just how recognizable
he's become.
Speaker 8 (16:29):
So in the nineties, there was a group of graduated
high school students. They went to their final school trip
in Verona and they went to one of the boutiques
just to check it out and to see some of
the most famous Italian designers close. And when a manager
(16:50):
of that shop, when he saw a group of the
Serbian students coming in, he calls security immediately because they
knew about Milaniapoya and there was actually a picture of
him on the wall, representing him as a criminal who
was doing all these robberies in Italian boutiques.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Meanwhile, Miladi Lazavich is quietly developing his own criminal reputation.
He learns the art of car theft, he apprentices in
home burglary and pickpocketing. Just like Milan, he shows natural
talent for it. By this time the late nineteen nineties,
a distinct two tiered hierarchy has emerged within the criminal
(17:31):
ecosystem of Niche.
Speaker 14 (17:34):
Top of the chain in the crime was basically cigar smuggling.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's investigative reporter Stevan doo Jinovich, founder and editor in
chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network in Belgrade, Serbia.
Speaker 14 (17:46):
Made strange, but I mean actually cigar smuggling was the
top deals that you can have. So the biggest organistrant
groups are actually patrolling chain of the cigarette smuggling, and
not everyone can really be involved in this.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Cigaret smuggling is a lucrative business and by necessity, those
running the operation are connected to larger international crime syndicates.
This criminal tier and niche becomes known for their flashy
cars and full body tattoos and for their violence. One
step down, the criminal ladder, a loose network of thieves
(18:21):
who work in the West and bring stolen goods and
money back to Serbia. They might not be violent, but
they're being actively recruited by violent people Yelena Zorich.
Speaker 8 (18:34):
Again, they were looking for them in the local bars,
also even in prisons, in various sports club like boxing
club because they knew exactly what kind of people to
look for.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Like any good recruiter, these criminal organizations wanted high quality candidates,
people who were educated and well spoken.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
They were not looking for the people who are using drugs,
for example, they were not interested in that that couldn't happen,
but people who are ready for the robberies. People who
are ready, they were like testing them. When they were
talking to potential new members of their clan, they were
paying attention if, for example, their hands were shaking or
(19:17):
their voice is shaking. So they were very selective in
choosing new people who want to work for them.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Ladon Lazarevich is the first to make the cad. He
goes pro. Melan Lepoyez brought in soon after, and the
two of them Meat and Boyana. Here's Alan Greenberg again.
Speaker 9 (19:37):
She finishes university and she must have did really well
because she gets into one of the top law schools
in Serbia and she was founding her dream of becoming
a lawyer. Remember her teacher said that's what she always
wanted to become.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But this is postwards Serbia and creating a prosperous life
is incredibly difficult, even for an educated young professional.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
No, clearly things don't go as planned. So this is
when Boyana she meets Maladin, and it's not long after
that that she drops out of law school. Practically before
it even begins.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Annoying.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
He fell in love with the wrong guy helenosorig.
Speaker 8 (20:19):
It's not that she had any specific background that turned
her into this, but she she fell in love with
the guy, and she just started doing it with him
because she was in love with him and she wanted
to help him, so she trusted him completely.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Pu Yama's relationship with Vladen Lazarevitch isn't the only factor though.
Speaker 12 (20:38):
It's not just the fact that she fell in love.
It's also the fact that she immediately realized how easier
her life would be if she was involved with someone
like him.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
She really wanted to be a lawyer, and she wanted
to be the one representing those criminals, but then she
realized when she met him that it was much easier
to hire a lawyer who would then represent you.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Buyenna comes to understand early on that being a criminal
in post civil war Serbia was the better career move.
If you had money, you could always hire a lawyer.
And having seen where true opportunity lay, these three young
people were developing their skill sets and putting together their team.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Maladin was the leader of that gang at the moment.
Boyana was Maladen's girlfriend, they were connected with Milan Yefuya
because pectically they were all working together, and then Milan
was very very close to Mladen during various side stated together.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
And soon the three friends are ready to move up
to a new level.
Speaker 15 (21:46):
In the middle of the triangular border of Germany, Austria
and Switzerland lies the treasure of the European Alps, the
Principality of Liechtenstein. Hardly anywhere else in Central Europe has
experienced such a rapid transformation from a dreamy agrarian state
into one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Welcome to Liechtenstein, population thirty nine thousand, small, rich, exclusive,
and virtually crime free, which makes it the perfect location
for Laden, Bojana and Milan to pull off their first
major robbery together. They bring along a couple of trusted
(22:29):
colleagues to help, including a handsome twenty nine year old
Botanian named dushkopos Nan. As it happens, Dushko will also
help on another job a year later, in March of
two thousand and seven, at the Waffi Moon in Dubai.
After scounting targets in an upscale shopping district in Nichtenstein's
capital Vadutes. The gang settles on the Hoober watch and
(22:53):
jewelry shop. Robert Walner is a Liechtenstein prosecutor.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
They held the shop assistant their gunpoints and they broke
into the glass lockers with a hammer, and they stole
a jewelry and cash and slit the whole thing. Talk
about four minutes, and then they left them a stolen car.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That's stolen car. You guessed it. It's an Audi just
like they'll use at the Waffy Mall. This time it's
an elegant blue A four. Everything about this robbery feels
like a dress rehearsal. A young gang writing their playbook
for the future. Though she might be new to the game,
Boyana plays her part like a pro. While the others
(23:43):
are loading up their bags with seven hundred thousand dollars
worth of watches. She's behind the wheel of the Audi
engine running. When the masked robbers comes sprinting out of
the boutique, Bojana already has her foot on the gas
and they're gone. The Liechtenstein police don't know what hit them.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Lietenstein is a low crime country, wet and often have
crimes committed like this. Obviously, our police are not so
used they're having this kind of criminal.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
After their initial shock, local law enforcement leaps into action,
putting up roadblocks, deploying border guards, and notifying authorities in
neighboring countries. But the young Pink Panthers disappear without a trace,
well almost.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
They're not the perfect Roberts. Police found the car in Switzerland,
and the DNA was found in the car and in
the shop.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
It is this DNA that would come into play one
year later when Ron Nobel, an ambitious young American, becomes
director of Interpol. Nobel believes technology and cooperation are the
keys to stop criminals like the Pink Panthers, and he
just might be right, and the same DNA found in
(25:07):
an outing in Switzerland in two thousand and six would
eventually be connected to another heist over four thousand miles
away one year later in Dubai. Coming up next on
Infamous International, the Pink Panthers story, it's been open season
(25:28):
around the world for the Pink Panthers, but law enforcement
might finally be catching up to them.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
The start of a manhunt, the cops learn about the
apartment they link DNA from the car and the apartment
to a bunch of suspects, including Milan le Poea.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
Both of them, they were feeling that they would be
much safer in Serbia because once they come to Serbia,
definitely they will be protected from Dubai police.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
But the police still have to combat the image the
Pink Panthers and the media have managed to create.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
I think that this history created a figure of a
glamorous celebrity criminal.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
When they were committing the robbery, they went on violin,
but when you have a weapon in your face sycolotically,
it was very violent for people. That's next time on
Infamous International, The Pink Panthers Story. Infamous International The Pink
(26:33):
Panthers Story was produced by best Case Studios in association
with Koda's Story, hosted by me Natalia ant Lava and
written by Katrina Wolfe, Adam Pinkis, Susanne Myers, and David Markowitz,
with help from Brent Katz and Matt Levin. For Best
Case Studios. Executive producer Adam Pinkers, Senior Producer David Markowitz,
(27:00):
U Katrina Wolfe, Associate producer Hannah Libovitz, Lockart and Consulting
Producers Julie Goldstein and Louis Spiegler for Koda. Story reporting
by Lane Greenberg with associate producer Rebecca Robinson. Edited and
sound designed by Gaylon Mullens and Max Michael Miller. Music
(27:20):
by Dave Harrington. Archival producers Mark Degora and Paul Dallas.
This has been an exactly right production. Executive producers Karen
Kilgareth Georgia hart Stark, and Daniel Kramer, with consulting producer
Kyle Ryan
Host
Natalia Antelava
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