BOXING
Ex-heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic charged with $1 billion cocaine trafficking
Transporting via America and Europe, the 43-year-old Montenegrin has been on the wrong side of one of the largest seizures in US history.
The United States Department of Justice has charged the former heavyweight boxer from Montenegro with trafficking 22 tonnes of cocaine. This could lead to a minimum of 30 years in prison, with a possible life sentence.
Goran Gogic charged over historic cocaine seizure
The arrest came on Sunday evening as Gogic attempted to get on a flight at Miami International Airport. He was headed for Zurich, Croatia, but had previously been indicted by a New York grand jury. He has been charged with three counts of violating the federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, and one count of conspiracy, with each count carrying a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term.
“These charges came as a surprise to him,” said Gogic’s lawyer Lawrence Hashish. “He maintains his innocence, and had come to the US for a boxing convention in Puerto Rico.”
Based on the court papers, however, the ex-fighter was across all of the logistical planning that linked the Colombian traffickers with the cartels based in and around his home country.
How much cocaine was seized and where?
The biggest haul back in 2019 came on the MSC Gayane while it was docked at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. From there officers secured 19.8 of the total 22 tonnes. The rest was found on two other cargo ships, generally used for commercial means.