Crossword Genius

Illegal runner, Croatian, without a time I suspect (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

narco

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'time i suspect' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'illegal runner croatian without a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'runner' could be 'r' (abbreviation) and 'r' is found within the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'nco' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for narco that I've seen before include "Drugs agent (US slang)" , "Member of US drugs squad" , "American drug agent" , "Drug trafficker" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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