U.S. Soldiers Involved in Drug Smuggling Ring
FBI Raises National Security Concerns Amid Military Corruption
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2005 — – Several cases of corruption in the military ranks have revealed a dangerous vulnerability in the nation’s security, ABC News has learned.
Dozens of active and former soldiers have abused their military uniforms and authority in a drug smuggling ring, government sources tell ABC News.
A U.S. army sergeant fighting the war on drugs in Colombia was recently sentenced to six years in prison for using military aircraft to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
In April, an Air National Guard pilot and a sergeant used a C-5 Galaxy military transport plane to sneak nearly 300,000 Ecstasy pills from Germany into New York.
In another case, three U.S. airmen were arrested in March for stealing military-issue bulletproof vests from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and selling them to drug dealers for $100 each.
Chip Burrus, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s criminal division, says the corruption “has the potential to be a cancer that spreads in individual units.”
The FBI has launched a major initiative to find out whether other members of the military and law enforcement are willing to engage in similar behavior for profit.
abcnews.go.com