A former heavyweight boxer was accused by the United States Department of Justice of trafficking 22 tons of cocaine worth over $ 1 billion (£ 870 million), most of which was part of one of the largest seizures of cocaine in American history.
Goran Gogic, a Montenegrin, was arrested Sunday night while trying to board a flight to Zurich from Miami International Airport after being indicted by a grand jury in New York.
Prosecutors charged the 43-year-old with three counts of violating the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and a conspiracy count.
Each count carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a possible life sentence.
The allegations stem from the seizure of 19,930 kg (22 tons) of cocaine from three merchant ships in 2019,
including 17,956 kg (19.8 tonnes) from MSC Gayane while docked at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia.
Prosecutors said the conspirators transported cocaine to Europe from Colombia via American ports, using cranes and nets at night to hoist drugs onto merchant ships from speedboats approaching the ship routes.
The complex operation required knowledge of each ship’s crew, route and location data, and that there was room to store the drugs in containers that were already on board, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, Gogic oversaw the logistics, coordinating with crew members, Colombian smugglers and European port workers for the benefit of himself and his Balkan-based cartels.
Lawrence Hashish, Gogic’s attorney, said: “These allegations came as a surprise to him. He retains his innocence and had come to the United States for a boxing convention in Puerto Rico.”
At least eight of Gayane’s crew pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges.
According to online records, Gogic was a boxer from 2001 to 2012, winning 21 fights and losing four with two draws.
