A 36-year-old Miami Beach restaurateur who owns a multi-million dollar mansion in Aventura will be held in a federal lock-up after his recent arrest for his alleged role in an international cocaine-distribution ring.
Nahim Jorge Bonilla on Tuesday chose not to challenge his detention in Miami federal court as he awaits being transferred to Los Angeles, the alleged distribution hub of a Canadian drug-trafficking organization led by a former Olympic athlete.
Bonilla’s defense lawyers, Paul Petruzzi and Lawrence Hashish, told a magistrate judge that their client was willing to wait to contest his detention until after his transfer to Los Angeles — where he’s one of 16 defendants listed in an indictment. A striking allegation in the 53-page indictment is that the organization’s leaders threatened to kill Bonilla’s mother if he didn’t repay them for a cocaine load that they had fronted to him.
Bonilla was arrested last Wednesday by FBI agents during a search of his home at 3914 Island Estates Drive in Aventura. Bonilla bought the 6,522-square-foot mansion from famed record producer DJ Khaled for $4.8 million in 2020, according to the real estate publication, The Real Deal . Bonilla is also the owner of Mandrake , the restaurant at 210 23rd St. in Miami Beach.