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Justice delayed, not denied: Ecstasy trafficker Nello Quagliani pleads guilty in the US 20 years after SA arrest

Justice delayed, not denied: Ecstasy trafficker Nello Quagliani pleads guilty in the US 20 years after SA arrest
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
19 Jul 2023
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Twenty years after being arrested in South Africa before facing drug smuggling charges in the US, Nello Quagliani has pleaded guilty and is facing a lengthy spell in jail. This could mean the end of a case that has spanned decades and several countries.

Drug trafficker Nello Quagliani, who was based in South Africa, is set to be jailed in the US in an extraordinary case involving ecstasy smuggling dating back two decades, to a time when the drug was associated with dodgy bouncer groups in SA.

In the US, Quagliani was accused of being part of a European trafficking syndicate pumping ecstasy, also known as MDMA, from the Netherlands to Miami between 1996 and 2000.

Daily Maverick has now established that in 2021 in South Africa, he was also charged in connection with drugs, firearms and ammunition.

The accusations against him involved the transportation of drugs between provinces – the same modus operandi South African police flagged in terms of ecstasy trafficking about 20 years ago when Quagliani was arrested here in connection with the US charges.

Jail time


What has effectively happened to Quagliani, based on information from South African and US authorities, involves criminal accusations in both countries that are separated by two decades.

Daily Maverick previously reported that on 15 September last year, South African authorities handed Quagliani over to their US counterparts for extradition – 19 years after he was first arrested in SA.

The Miami Herald has since reported that in May this year, Quagliani pleaded guilty in the US to charges relating to a drug-smuggling conspiracy and money laundering.



Daily Maverick this week confirmed with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida that Quagliani is expected to be sentenced next week on 26 July.

Broader issues linked to Quagliani, who reportedly has South African and Italian citizenship, are tied to the history of ecstasy in this country and the US.

Club drug dealing


The trafficking and abuse of synthetic drugs like ecstasy, and their popularity among young people, were flagged as major problems in the US between 1999 and 2003.

A US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) document, focusing on that period, said: “It was touted as a ‘feel good’ drug with an undeserved reputation for safety. In 2000, it was estimated that about two million tablets were smuggled into the US every week.”

The drug was often used at “raves” – all-night dance events – “characterised by loud, rapid tempo (‘techno music’), light and laser shows, smoke or fog, and psychedelic screen images”.

Sourced in Europe


The DEA document explained that ecstasy was mainly produced in Europe and from there, trafficked to the US. Between 1999 and 2003, the DEA made several inroads into trafficking organisations.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, ecstasy also sourced from Europe was being couriered around the country – this trafficking via mail was flagged as a concern in 2001.

According to a South African Police Service (SAPS) presentation to Parliament that year, the trafficking of ecstasy was “in the hands of white groups of South Africans (the so-called ‘bouncer mafias’)”.

Bouncers and drug smuggling


The “bouncer mafias” included groups of doormen who purportedly provided security at entertainment establishments, but who were involved in drug smuggling.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The Enforcers – Inside Cape Town's Deadly Nightclub Battles

Some police officers in the Western Cape claimed that certain bouncers were controlled by apartheid-era cops.

The 2001 SAPS presentation elaborated on the situation back then.

“Although a few ecstasy laboratories have been seized in South Africa, the bulk of what is consumed in the country is imported from Europe, notably from the Netherlands and the UK,” it said.

“For product coming into the country, the preferred mode of transport continues to be the postal system and fast courier services.”

Thousands of ecstasy pills


It is somewhere in this matrix that Quagliani seems to fit in.

According to the Miami Herald, in the US case against Quagliani, the DEA had alleged that he and “his European-trafficking network shipped at least 200,000 MDMA pills from the Netherlands to Miami between 1996 and 2000”.

That report continued: “Quagliani is the last of about 30 defendants in his ring who have been prosecuted and convicted on the ecstasy smuggling charges, according to court records.”

Quagliani has a deep history linked to South Africa where he appears to have lived for years.

Cape Town and Joburg businesses


Daily Maverick has established that a man with the same name and age as Quagliani was linked to several addresses, including a home in Hout Bay in the Western Cape.

He had been involved in several businesses in both the Western Cape and Gauteng. One of those appeared to be a restaurant or deli in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, Quagliani battled for years against extradition to the US.

Some of his legal attempts to stay out of that country are outlined in court papers.

According to 2008 Constitutional Court documents which included a written submission on Quagliani’s behalf, he was a South African resident.

2003 arrest


The documents explained that he was provisionally arrested in South Africa without a warrant on 26 November 2003.

About three weeks later, on 9 December, he was released from the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court on bail.

“Quagliani was not charged with any criminal offence committed in the Republic; the only charges against him related to offences allegedly committed in the United States,” the documents said.

It was argued on his behalf that there was no valid extradition treaty between South Africa and the US.

In 2009, it was reported that the Constitutional Court found against him. But, as is now known, he was only extradited to the US in September 2022.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Recent extradition decision involving Nello Quagliani casts light on messy stem cell case between SA and US

The decision to eventually extradite Quagliani may be linked to a 2021 arrest.

Drugs concealed 


A report on an online South African media platform to which press releases can be uploaded, stated that the Hawks arrested a man with a name and age matching that of Quagliani, in Gauteng in August 2021.

Daily Maverick has confirmed with police that the Quagliani referenced in that report is indeed the same person set to be sentenced in the US.

It was alleged in the 2021 case that Hawks officers received intelligence about drug dealing taking place at a residential complex in Fourways, Johannesburg.

According to the report, police tailed Quagliani who allegedly dropped off a parcel, declared as foodstuff and destined for Cape Town, at a courier company east of Johannesburg.

When officers searched the parcel, they found drugs worth R120,000 (the couriering of drugs, specifically ecstasy, around South Africa was an issue already flagged in 2001).

Cops reportedly intercepted Quagliani as he drove towards Randburg and they ended up searching his home. They allegedly found two unlicensed firearms, ammunition and cash. Quagliani was arrested and charged accordingly.

While it’s not immediately clear what happened in that case, one thing is certain – Quagliani is now facing jail time in the US. DM

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