Montenegrin Citizen Extradited from Italy to Face Maritime Narcotrafficking Charges

Milos Radonjic, a citizen of Montenegro, also known as “Pirate of the Unknown,” was extradited yesterday to the Eastern District of New York from Italy.  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 on October 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. Radonjic will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday, July 29, 2024, before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak.

 Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York, and David J. Scott, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, announced the 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,” stated United States Attorney 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.”

Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the United States Marshals Service, the United States 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 the arrest and extradition of Radonjic.

HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo said: “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. We will relentlessly pursue transnational criminal organizations and their efforts to flout the laws vital to ensuring our communities’ safety and wellbeing.”

“Radonjic and his co-conspirators allegedly transported tons of cocaine across the world using commercial cargo vessels," stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott.  “His extradition is a testament to global multiagency efforts to disrupt transnational criminal organizations who traffic drugs by air, land, or sea.”

According to the indictment and court filings, 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 multi-ton 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 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’ imprisonment and up to life in prison.

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, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Nomi D. Berenson and Robert M. Pollack are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Samuel Ronchetti. 

The Defendant:

MILOS RADONJIC (also known as “Pirate of the Unknown”)
Age:  34
Montenegro

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-257 (S-1) (ARR)