While in the city, he greatly expanded his criminal network, being linked to criminals such as Safet "Sajo" Kalic, a suspected Montenegrin drug trafficker, but also maintaining contacts with important businessmen, including developer Fahrudin Radončić, owner of Dnevni avaz, Bosnia's largest circulation newspaper.
His criminal activities included not only drug trafficking but also cigarette smuggling, money laundering and loan sharking.
[2] In 2008 Bosnian police produced a report on Kelmendi to Interpol, revealing his vast influence in the country's drug trafficking rings.
[1] According to Interpol, Kelmendi imported gold and textiles clandestinely from Turkey to Kosovo in the 1980s, and later, after the former Yugoslavia was placed under international sanctions, he smuggled oil, tobacco and drugs.
[6] In May 2023, Kelmendi was once again found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.