ianstone
09-13-2010, 02:19 PM
Army Probes Claims Troops Smuggled Heroin
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1:59pm UK, Monday September 13, 2010
Richard Williams, Sky News Online
British troops are under investigation over claims they smuggled heroin from Afghanistan.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Mar/Week4/15252895.jpg Soldiers patrol near poppy fields in Afghanistan
Ministry of Defence (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Home/) officials said they were aware of "unsubstantiated" accusations that soldiers were using military planes to transport the drug.
They said security had been stepped up in light of the allegations and that extra sniffer dogs would be used until the investigation was over.
Any of our people found to be engaged in trafficking of illegal narcotics will feel the full weight of the law
MoD spokeswoman
The probe will focus on British and Canadian service personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.
Drug barons in Afghanistan (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Afghanistan), which produces 90% of the world's opium, previously claimed soldiers were involved in the illegal trade.
Dealers told the Sunday Times last year that servicemen were the second largest buyers of heroin, after foreign drug lords.
A team of detectives from the MoD's special investigations branch is believed to be looking into the claims.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "We are aware of these allegations.
Afghanistan's Heroin Trade
:: The opium poppy is the basic source of heroin.
:: UN figures state opium production rose in each of the four years after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
:: The annual export value of opium from Afghanistan has been estimated at £41bn.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Sep/Week1/15372791.jpg
"Although they are unsubstantiated, we take any such reports very seriously and we have already tightened our existing procedures both in Afghanistan and in the UK, including through increasing the use of trained sniffer dogs.
"We regret any inconvenience this causes to our service personnel.
"Any of our people found to be engaged in trafficking of illegal narcotics will feel the full weight of the law."
A spokesman from the department added: "Clearly no-one wants to inconvenience service personnel, but while it is being investigated, we need to increase security.
"That will continue until the investigation is complete."
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1:59pm UK, Monday September 13, 2010
Richard Williams, Sky News Online
British troops are under investigation over claims they smuggled heroin from Afghanistan.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Mar/Week4/15252895.jpg Soldiers patrol near poppy fields in Afghanistan
Ministry of Defence (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Home/) officials said they were aware of "unsubstantiated" accusations that soldiers were using military planes to transport the drug.
They said security had been stepped up in light of the allegations and that extra sniffer dogs would be used until the investigation was over.
Any of our people found to be engaged in trafficking of illegal narcotics will feel the full weight of the law
MoD spokeswoman
The probe will focus on British and Canadian service personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.
Drug barons in Afghanistan (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Afghanistan), which produces 90% of the world's opium, previously claimed soldiers were involved in the illegal trade.
Dealers told the Sunday Times last year that servicemen were the second largest buyers of heroin, after foreign drug lords.
A team of detectives from the MoD's special investigations branch is believed to be looking into the claims.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "We are aware of these allegations.
Afghanistan's Heroin Trade
:: The opium poppy is the basic source of heroin.
:: UN figures state opium production rose in each of the four years after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
:: The annual export value of opium from Afghanistan has been estimated at £41bn.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Sep/Week1/15372791.jpg
"Although they are unsubstantiated, we take any such reports very seriously and we have already tightened our existing procedures both in Afghanistan and in the UK, including through increasing the use of trained sniffer dogs.
"We regret any inconvenience this causes to our service personnel.
"Any of our people found to be engaged in trafficking of illegal narcotics will feel the full weight of the law."
A spokesman from the department added: "Clearly no-one wants to inconvenience service personnel, but while it is being investigated, we need to increase security.
"That will continue until the investigation is complete."