Josip Šincek, key suspect in the investigation into illegal waste import and disposal, took part in the traditional cycling jousting event in Kutjevo in June. Photos were published on August 10.
Josip Šincek, an entrepreneur considered by Europol, USKOK, and the police to be the central figure in illegal waste management, participated in the Vinska Alka in Kutjevo on June 6, 2026. This traditional knightly game is part of the Graševina Festival, where competitors on bicycles aim a lance at a ring. Photos from the event were published on August 10 by the portal Požeški.hr.
Investigators claim that Šincek was the pivotal figure in a system through which approximately 35,000 tons of waste, mostly from Italy, Slovenia, and Germany, entered Croatia and were illegally disposed of. The material was documented as raw material for recycling or processing into construction material, but some of the waste ended up buried, covered with soil and gravel, or mixed with construction debris.
According to police estimates, this involved around 1,750 shipments of about twenty tons each. The investigation has covered a number of locations, from Gospić, Benkovac, and Varaždin to Senj and Otočac, and in Gospić, the site of the former PPK Velebit came under scrutiny. There, silos, open areas, and surrounding land were used for disposal, and when space ran out, part of a forest was cut down.
Alongside Šincek, members of his family and close associates are also under investigation. His wife, Monika Šincek, is a co-owner of the company Izoxeco, together with Franciska Dodić, and it is suspected that workers and transport were coordinated through related companies. These companies issued invoices to each other to siphon off money and conceal its trail.
Monika's father, Mileta Stevanović, was reportedly responsible for procuring soil and gravel to cover the shredded waste. Antonija Bauk, the partner of Monika's brother, and two drivers are mentioned as part of the operational group that organized transport, arranged workers, and carried out waste concealment tasks.
USKOK is now also examining financial transactions of the related companies, suspecting that several hundred thousand euros were laundered through loans, investments, and fake invoices. Šincek's companies nominally dealt with converting waste into construction products, so trucks, plastic bales, and shredded material did not raise suspicion for a long time, but behind that legal business facade, according to investigators, a completely different operation was taking place.
