Former boxer charged in biggest cocaine bust in US history

A former heavyweight boxer has been charged for allegedly trafficking more than $1 billion worth of cocaine into the US. Goran Gogic, 43, was…

By: Karim Zidan | 11 months ago
Former boxer charged in biggest cocaine bust in US history
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

A former heavyweight boxer has been charged for allegedly trafficking more than $1 billion worth of cocaine into the US.

Goran Gogic, 43, was arrested on Sunday night while attempting to board a flight from Miami International Airport to Zurich, Switzerland, after being indicted by a grand jury in New York.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice charged Gogic with three counts of violating the federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, and one count of conspiracy. Each count carries a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term and possible life sentence.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn called Gogic’s arrest and indictment “a resounding victory for law enforcement.”

The charges stem from Gogic’s role in managing three cargo shipments discovered in US ports in 2019 that totalled more than 22 tons of cocaine—one of the largest seizures in U.S. history.

Prosecutors also alleged that Gogic was part of a cocaine smuggling operation that moved drugs from Colombia through American ports in order to get them to Europe. The gang reportedly used cranes and nets at night to hoist drugs onto cargo ships from approaching speedboats.

Lawrence Hashish, the lawyer for Gogic, said: “These charges came as a surprise to him. He maintains his innocence, and had come to the U.S. for a boxing convention in Puerto Rico.”

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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