Hidden cameras installed by KALLXO.com exposed ongoing smuggling along illegal mountain routes in northern Kosovo, exposing vehicles crossing the Kosovo–Serbia border, despite increased police patrols.
On December 4, the night before the newly-elected ethnic-Serb mayors of the four Serb majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo were sworn into office, several vehicles crossed the border toward Serbia via illegal routes, and returned to Kosovo hours later with smuggled goods.
While smuggling activity increased on that night, it was not an isolated scenario.
Over the course of several days, from November 27 to early December 2025, a KALLXO.com crew used hidden cameras to document dozens of vehicles travelling, mainly in groups, from Serbia along illegal and hard-to-access routes that link municipalities in the north of Kosovo, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok. The road, located in the area known as ‘Junak’, which runs alongside the village of Banjska, where Serb gunmen organised an attack that resulted in the death of a Kosovo policeman in September 2023, has long been used for the illegal transport of goods between Kosovo and Serbia.
Dozens of cars, vans, and small trucks were recorded crossing the border, most often between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., smuggling mainly food products and textiles, proving that despite authorities efforts to close illegal smuggling routes, some are still operational.
The footage, showing thirty cases within several days, was submitted to the Kosovo Police on December 10, days before it was broadcast publicly on December 14.
The investigation prompted police action. On the evening of December 11, 2025, authorities arrested six individuals on suspicion of smuggling goods in the same area where the KALLXO.com cameras had been installed.
Several vehicles and consignments of food and textile products were seized during the police operation.
The recordings show that organised criminal groups—some allegedly connected to Albanian owned local businesses—continue to operate in the region, adapting their methods despite increasingly frequent police patrols in recent years.
The KALLXO.com crew, led by investigative journalist Kreshnik Gashi, first captured illegal crossings on November 27 after placing concealed cameras in trees overlooking the route.
Veton Elshani, Deputy Regional Director of the Kosovo Police for the north of Kosovo, told KALLXO.com that the smugglers usually “carry as much as the vehicle allows. Vans usually transport food, while large SUVs are often used to move food and medicine. Compared to 2022, the volume of smuggling has decreased.”
Elshani added that smugglers closely monitor police patrols before choosing routes and timing.
“We have stopped many individuals, but smuggling has not disappeared. Food, medicine, meat, and high-value goods are still being trafficked,” he added.
Mountain routes in northern Kosovo used for smuggling goods from Serbia. Photo: BIRN
Police data show that, in addition to the official border crossings at Bërnjak and Jarinje, authorities have identified 64 illegal routes in northern Kosovo, seven of which are paved.
“The routes still exist, and as long as they do, they will be used,” Elshani said, adding that, “border control is never absolute, but we continue to monitor and intervene wherever possible.”
Most suspects arrested in smuggling cases are repeat offenders with prior criminal records.
“The same individuals keep returning to this activity,” Elshani said. “Some have been imprisoned before and are caught again.”
In previous years the smuggling was done at a larger scale. There were hundreds of trucks reportedly using similar illegal and official routes to cross the border at night.
In 2019, a KALLXO.com crew, in collaboration with local Kosovo Serbs, managed to document the smuggling operation. The footage, featured in three broadcasts revealed how a network of police officers accepted bribes of up to 200 euros at two gas stations and a retail store in Leposavic to facilitate the unhindered passage of contraband trucks.
Smugglers contacted sergeants and police officials at border checkpoints to ensure the smooth transit of contraband.
As a result, the Basic Court of Prishtina, on October 27, 2023, convicted and sentenced 13 out of 19 accused police officers for their involvement in abusing their official positions in collusion with the smuggling of various goods from the territory of Serbia into Kosovo.