International Drug Traffickers Gorazd Filimonovic, Gasper Urbanc, and their Co-Conspirators Sought to Import Massive Quantities of Heroin to the United States from Europe
Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GORAZD FILIMONOVIC and GASPER URBANC, were sentenced to 10 years and 13 years in prison, respectively, for conspiring to import hundreds of kilograms of heroin into the United States. FILIMONOVIC and URBANC, who are both Slovenian nationals, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods, before whom they previously pled guilty.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “Gorazd Filimonovic, Gasper Urbanc, and their co-conspirators agreed to send a staggering amount of heroin to the United States. The defendants boasted of their connections to other drug traffickers in Europe, and claimed they had experience in trafficking thousands of kilograms of drugs. But, all of that comes to an end as Filimonovic and Urbanc will serve lengthy prison sentences. This Office, through its longstanding partnership with the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit, will continue to prosecute those who seek to harm our communities by flooding our streets with dangerous drugs.”
As reflected in the Indictment, other filings, and statements made in court:
From at least November 2020 through approximately April 2021, FILIMONOVIC and URBANC conspired to distribute multi-hundred-kilogram quantities of heroin from Austria and elsewhere for importation into the U.S.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) had been investigating FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and certain of their co-conspirators since at least 2019, when a Confidential Source (the “CS”) identified URBANC as a significant international cocaine trafficker who was responsible for coordinating drug transportation logistics on behalf of a drug trafficking organization (“DTO”). In a subsequent series of meetings and electronic communications, confidential sources (the “CSes”) negotiated the purchase of large quantities of cocaine and heroin for distribution in the U.S. FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and their co-conspirators explained to the CSes that they had experience in the international trafficking of thousands of kilograms of cocaine and heroin and could act as direct conduits to drug production facilities that they controlled. FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and their co-conspirators met with the CSes multiple times throughout the world, including in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, and Colombia, to coordinate large-scale drug shipments and to discuss alternative routes as they sought methods to evade law enforcement.
After early discussions regarding a potential cocaine shipment, the parties began discussing large scale heroin shipments. When a CS expressed interest in kilogram-quantity samples of heroin for potential future drug transactions, URBANC informed the CS that he could provide heroin immediately from multiple locations throughout Europe. By February 2021, FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and their co-conspirators agreed to supply the CSes with high-quality heroin to be delivered by the DTO to a location in Austria with the understanding that the heroin would then be flown by the CSes from Europe to New York City for further distribution in the United States.
In March 2021, the parties agreed on a price between €18,000 and €19,000 (approximately $21,600 and $22,800 at the time) per kilogram. Around this time, FILIMONOVIC and a co-conspirator met with one of the CSes and explained how the heroin would be transported, and that the heroin would be exchanged with the CSes in Graz, Austria. By April 2021, FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and their co-conspirators agreed to provide up to 135 kilograms of heroin in segments of approximately 30 to 40 kilograms to the CSes in exchange for approximately €2.6 million (approximately $3.1 million at the time). During meetings in April 2021 and in ensuing encrypted communications, the CSes showed FILIMONOVIC, URBANC, and their co-conspirators that they had secured payment for the heroin. The parties continued to discuss the proposed heroin transaction until FILIMONOVIC and URBANC were arrested in Croatia on May 21, 2021.
Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit as well as the Slovenia National Bureau of Investigation, the Austrian Federal and State Criminal Police, and the Croatian National Police for their assistance.
