A former professional heavyweight boxer was charged by the Department of Justice on Monday, October 31, 2022 with trafficking more than 20 tonnes of cocaine worth more than $1 billion through U.S. ports, the majority of which came from what prosecutors described as “one of the largest drug seizures in United States history” in 2019.
According to a news statement from the Justice Department, Goran Gogic, 43, was detained on Sunday after being indicted by a grand jury in New York. Gogic, a citizen of Montenegro, was detained at Miami International Airport as he attempted to board a flight.
Three counts of breaking the federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act as well as one count of conspiracy were brought against Gogic. faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.
The accusations are the result of three cocaine seizures, the largest of which being 19.8 tonnes from a cargo ship in 2019 while it was berthed at Philadelphia’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. Ivan Durasevic, the ship’s second mate, and Fonofaavae Tiasaga were taken into custody at the time of the bust. The vessel was sailing toward the Netherlands.
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According to the prosecution, Gogic and others utilised commercial cargo ships and “meticulous planning” to move cocaine from Colombia to Europe through U.S. ports.
Prosecutors claimed that “members of the conspiracy loaded the commercial cargo ships at night in close proximity to the coast and ports, collaborating with crewmembers who would hoist bundles of cocaine from speedboats that approached the ships at various points along their voyage.”
The ship’s cranes and nets were allegedly used by the accused to load the drugs. Prosecutors claimed that after the cocaine was aboard, the crew would conceal it within shipping containers.
Prosecutors claimed that the intricate operation required access to each ship’s crew, route, real-time positioning, and geolocation data.
Gogic is charged for directing the operation through communication with the crew, Colombian traffickers, and European dockworkers.
U.S. Attorney William McSwain tweeted the following following the significant raid in Philadelphia in 2019: “One of the biggest drug seizures in American history occurred here. This much cocaine has the potential to kill millions—MILLIONS—of people.”
The 6 foot 5 inch, 250 pound Gogic participated from 2001 to 2012, winning 21 matches and losing four, according to online boxing records.
The arrest and indictment of Gogic were described as a “body blow to the organisation and persons responsible for delivering huge quantities of cocaine” by U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement.
