A former heavyweight boxer has been charged by the US Department of Justice with trafficking 22 tonnes of cocaine value over $1bn (£870m), most of which was a part of one of many largest cocaine seizures in American historical past.
Goran Gogic, from Montenegro, was arrested on Sunday night time whereas attempting 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 federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, and one depend of conspiracy.
Each depend carries a compulsory minimal 10-year jail time period and attainable life sentence.
The costs stem from the seizures of 19,930kg (22 tonnes) of cocaine from three industrial cargo ships in 2019,
together with 17,956kg (19.8 tonnes) from the MSC Gayane whereas it was docked at Philadelphia’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
Prosecutors stated the conspirators transported cocaine to Europe from Colombia by American ports, utilizing cranes and nets at night time to hoist medication on to cargo ships from approaching speedboats alongside the ships’ routes.
The advanced operation required data of every ship’s crew, route and placement information, and that there was room to retailer medication in transport containers that had been already aboard, prosecutors stated.
According to courtroom papers, Gogic oversaw the logistics, co-ordinating with crew members, Colombian traffickers and European dockworkers to profit himself and his Balkan-based cartels.
Lawrence Hashish, the lawyer for Gogic, stated: “These charges came as a surprise to him. He maintains his innocence, and had come to the US for a boxing convention in Puerto Rico.”
At least eight Gayane crew members have pleaded responsible to conspiracy costs.
According to on-line data, Gogic was a boxer from 2001 to 2012, profitable 21 bouts and dropping 4 with two attracts.
Source: information.sky.com”