United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PLANO, TEXAS – A Serbian national has been sentenced to federal prison as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation into cocaine trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas.

Milan Tanovic, 59, also known as Marco, a Serbian national living in Spain, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and was sentenced to 204 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on October 15, 2026.

“This sentence sends a clear message that any drug trafficker who profits from the sale of drugs at the expense of American victims will not be tolerated,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Joseph B. Tucker.  “DEA’s reach goes beyond the borders of the US, and we will pursue drug traffickers anywhere to ensure they are held accountable for the damage they inflict on our communities, just as we did with Mr. Tanovic.  They cannot hide and will ultimately be extradited and prosecuted in a U.S. courtroom.”

According to information presented in court, Tanovic was identified as a large-scale cocaine trafficker who worked with other drug traffickers based in Serbia and Albania to ship ton amounts of cocaine from South America to Europe, using container vessels.  Tanovic was connected to multiple drug shipment seizures through analysis of multiple chats on an encrypted messaging platform.   

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.  HSTF Dallas comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Field Office; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations - Dallas (ICE-HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Dallas Field Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Dallas Field Division; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CD; United States Postal Service, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS); United States Secret Service (USSS); Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS); TEXOMA HIDTA; DEA Country Offices in Rome (Italy), Brasilia (Brazil), Santa Domingo (Dominican Republic), Madrid (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Zagreb (Croatia), and Bogota (Colombia); EUROPOL; and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Texas with the prosecution being led by Eastern District of Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Wynne.