In the major police operation, police have seized over 40 tons of marijuana and 1,300 bottles of cannabis oil.
The cannabis oil and around nine tons of marijuana were found and seized from Skopje–based Alphapharm, whose co-owner, Ivan Dragnic, is one of those detained in the Serbia marijuana case, while 31 tons and biomass were seized from two legal entities based in the Strumica region.
One of them, CBD Medplant, is based in Borisovo, Novo Selo. It was formed in 2018. The owners are Kolje Vasilev, Hristijan Kotev, Alex Gomes, Dobrinka Kirilieva, and SGB Property SA.
According to VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Kotev is the formal owner, but his father, Toni Kotev (a.k.a. M’gchev) is the beneficial one.
Ruling party MP Petrushevski stated that M’gchev was the former head of SDSM’s Novo Selo office and had close business relations with ex-PM Zoran Zaev’s brother, Vice Zaev, and Gidan Kolev. From June 30 to November of 2025, it delivered 19 tons of marijuana to the Skopje-based company, Petrushevski also said.
However, SDSM continued to criticize the government, while Zaev reacted too, denying accusations.
In December 2023, then-Health Minister Fatmir Mexhiti passed a rulebook concerning conditions on staff, equipment, and other areas related to cultivation of marijuana, according to Telma’s CODE show. PM Mickoski said he wouldn’t be surprised if investigations determined there were up to 100 tons of illegally produced marijuana.