British troops smuggled drugs from Afghanistan?
September 13th, 2010 - 11:02 am ICT by IANSLondon, Sep 13 (IANS) Britain’s military police are investigating claims that soldiers from the country stationed in Afghanistan may have trafficked heroin from there.
The ministry of defence has said there have been “unsubstantiated” reports about troops using military aircraft to ship drugs out of Afghanistan, the BBC reported.
An inquiry has been launched focusing on British and Canadian personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.
Security has also been tightened, with sniffer dogs used as part of the crackdown.
“We are aware of these allegations. Although they are unsubstantiated, we take any such reports very seriously and we have already tightened our existing procedures both in Afghanistan and in Britain, including through increasing the use of trained sniffer dogs,” a ministry spokesman said.
“We regret any inconvenience caused 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,” he said.
Afghanistan is the source of 90 percent of the world’s opium.
- UN says rising opium prices threaten fight against drug production in Afghanistan - Jan 21, 2011
- 15 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan - Dec 31, 2011
- Massive drug haul in Saudi Arabia - Jul 19, 2010
- UN chief urges Afghanistan to prioritise anti-drugs effort - Feb 17, 2012
- India among top drugs hotspots: UN report (Lead) - Mar 02, 2011
- 54 drug smugglers held in Afghanistan - Jan 10, 2011
- 10 tonnes of hashish seized in Karachi - Nov 16, 2011
- WikiLeaks: Taliban considers drug stock like savings accounts - Dec 21, 2010
- Missile sent to Britain through ordinary post! - Oct 13, 2010
- Drugs worth $130 mn seized in Pakistan in three years - Apr 14, 2011
- India to host meet against drugs trafficking - Nov 13, 2011
- UN backs Iran's counter-narcotics battle - Jul 19, 2011
- Russia, Iran to sign anti-drug deal - Jan 23, 2012
- Dogs passing out parade in Coimbatore - Sep 25, 2010
- Heroin seizures in Delhi up three times over 2010 - Jul 02, 2011
Tags: afghanistan, airports, allegations, bbc, british troops, camp bastion, crackdown, drugs, heroin, illegal narcotics, inconvenience, kandahar, military aircraft, military police, ministry of defence, ministry spokesman, opium, sniffer dogs, trafficking, unsubstantiated reports