Montenegrin Citizen Extradited From Italy to Face Maritime Narcotrafficking Charges

Joint HSI New York investigation found defendant, co-conspirators attempted to load tons of cocaine aboard container ship in Ecuador and coast of Colombia

NEW YORK — Milos Radonjic, a citizen of Montenegro who is also known as the “Pirate of the Unknown,” was extradited to the Eastern District of New York from Italy on July 26 following an Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York investigation in coordination with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Radonjic, 34, was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on July 29 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak.

Radonjic, who is charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy and attempt to violate the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, had previously been arrested in Italy Oct. 6, 2023, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant, after entering the country to compete in an international yacht race in which he was to captain a racing yacht.

“The defendant’s alleged efforts to utilize the open ocean to transport tons of cocaine were no match for the versatile investigative capabilities of HSI and our law enforcement partners. HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force is committed to leveraging our international footprint to protect the innocent public — at home, abroad, and in whatever capacity possible,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo. “We will relentlessly pursue transnational criminal organizations and their efforts to flout the laws vital to ensuring our communities’ safety and wellbeing.”

According to the investigation, in 2020, Radonjic was a high-ranking member of a large-scale transnational criminal organization that trafficked tons of cocaine across the world using commercial cargo vessels traversing the high seas. Radonjic communicated and coordinated with multiple co-conspirators to arrange multiton shipments of cocaine from South America to the Balkans and elsewhere. Radonjic allegedly organized three separate attempts, with the assistance of a corrupt crew member on a commercial cargo vessel, to load a container ship with more than 2,500 kilograms of cocaine in Ecuador and off the coast of Colombia.

The extradition of Radonjic is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Arvelo expressed his appreciation to the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of State, and Italian law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities, including the Ministry of Justice. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance with securing Radonjic’s arrest and extradition.

“This arrest and successful extradition is a lesson that the high seas are not a no-man’s land for the rule of law, and that we are committed to bringing those who violate it to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Working together with our law enforcement partners and allies around the world, this office will continue to pursue narcotraffickers who seek to corrupt the critical infrastructure of global shipping to transport their poisonous cargo to our communities.”

“Radonjic and his co-conspirators allegedly transported tons of cocaine across the world using commercial cargo vessels," said David J. Scott, the FBI special agent in charge of the Washington field office’s Criminal and Cyber Division. “His extradition is a testament to global multiagency efforts to disrupt transnational criminal organizations who traffic drugs by air, land or sea.”

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty. If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years of imprisonment and up to life in prison.

HSI New York leads and directs all operational and administrative activities of the El Dorado Task Force. The El Dorado Task Force is the premier money laundering task force in the nation and comprises more than 200 law enforcement personnel representing approximately 35 federal, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies. It encompasses a standalone Cyber Division as part of an effort to stay abreast of emerging criminal threats and in keeping with current and future investigative priorities. The El Dorado Task Force’s mission is to disrupt, dismantle or render ineffective organizations involved in the laundering of proceeds of narcotics trafficking and other financial crimes. Since its inception in 1992, the task force has been responsible for the seizure of approximately $600 million and more than 2,100 arrests.