Eight members of the ring, which grew marijuana in Albania, stored it in Slovenia and then smuggled it to Austria and Germany, had been brought before the Ljubljana court, six of which confessed.
While the Ljubljana section of Cobra, which also engaged in other criminal activities, is suspected to have been led by Albania-born Slovenian citizen Sami Thaqi who is still on the run, the alleged main organiser of the marijuana connection was Kranj-based Mentor Seferaj.
Seferaj, caught in Kosovo already in 2014, was not tried in Ljubljana, but two more key members, Fazli Gashi and Besnik Xhabala from Ljubljana, were.
Gashi, accused of also running a Bulgarian money counterfeiting and smuggling operation, got six years in prison and Xhabala three years and ten months.
Darko Lukavečki moreover got a three-year prison sentence, while the rest got one year or less, mostly suspended or with the chance of making amends through community service.
In the Koper trial that focused on the activities of the ring on the coast, seven members got more than 31 years in prison in total for drug and people trafficking.
