I generally don’t like these questions that no one can provide a truly definitive answer for, but does anyone know if there has been any documented cases of returning soldiers busted for bringing back substantial amounts of cheap heroin from their tours of duty?
I imagine that the opportunity to procure heroin is readily available, either by purchasing it (I understand that currently heroin is cheaper in Afghanistan than any other single place on Earth) or just copping some from the illicit caches that the soldiers occasionally find while on routine patrol.
The temptation must be strong for some, as apparently soldiers’ pay is nothing to write home about, and though I may be mistaken, I think servicemen (and servicewomen) are not subject to the same kinds of intrusive pre-flight screening “in country” that is found when flying domestically these days. (The TSA doesn’t operate in overseas military bases, right?)
Anyway, with the availability so great, and with many of the soldiers having been on multiple deployments, allowing them to figure out the best ways to roll thru the various security systems that are in place, I would be shocked if there wasn’t a substantial amount of pure, potent, dirt-cheap powder being brought back home by various military personnel trying to parlay their service into a big money payday.
It happened during the Vietnam War. I think the stuff was smuggled in coffins. But for all I know, I’ve mis-remembered a plot from ABC’s Tuesday-Movie-of-the-Week…
There are some huge differences between the Vietnam-era and now as far as going out and about and procuring drugs. I am not saying this is not possible, but, the whole group that goes out would have to be in on it as no one goes out alone in Afghanistan. So, that is a factor.
Also, the larger equipment, as in trucks, tanks, APCs, basically stay over there. Before they are brought back they are scrubbed down and a minor check. So, there is a possibility of discovery if the individual(s) were not inventive. If there was some huge smuggling occurring it would in fact probably be a fairly large organization of people on both sides of the planet pulling this off. Which would dilute the profits considerably.
Soldiers and their property are checked thoroughly before returning home. This includes xrays, passing by a drug dog and a thorough physical inspection of all their bags. Much worse than TSA. Imagine having to dump out all your luggage onto a table in front of a customs official who checks each item before allowing you to repack. Every Soldier goes through this.
Even shipping containers are thoroughly inspected. Everything must be pulled out and repacked in the presence of customs officials. All boxes are checked. They cannot be locked until inspected. If a box is locked with no key, then it gets cut off. Drug dogs are also present to walk around the lot while everyone is being inspected and repacked.
Not saying it can’t be done. But it would be a large operation. Joe isn’t sneaking a suitcase of heroine home in his duffel bag, that’s for sure.
My (Air Force) husband just returned from a tour in Iraq, and says his trip back through customs was just like any other time we’ve entered the country. No special bag inspection.
It dawned on me that groups of two or three soldiers are not likely heading off to Kabul for a night on the town like they might have once been able to do in Saigon back in the good old daze, which would make getting in contact with local dealers without all the others in their unit finding out about it mighty tricky indeed.
I have no idea what a pound of high-quality heroin sells for in Seattle or San Antonio, but I was thinking (based partly on having watched some of the Vietnam War movies mentioned above) that even a pound or two, which could be easily be concealed on a soldiers person, could set an enterprising GI up for a nice little nest-egg upon retuning home…
Having a pound or two of heroin in Seattle does no one any good.
You have to find a buyer who is not FBI or someone that is willing to just kill you for it without a second thought. Where the hell are you going to find an honest drug dealer who will actually pay you what the stuff is worth?
When you start dealing with pounds of heroin, you are in the big leagues and are a huge target when word gets out that you are looking for a buyer.
I know nothing about the intricacies of dealing wholesale levels of hard drugs, but I can assure you that the druggie grapevine is alive and well, and that a military guy (trained in killing, fresh from the Afghan battlefields) who knows a thing or two about a thing or two would probably be able to turn an INCREDIBLE profit margin on high quality narcotics, without falling prey to Dime Bag Donnie who hangs at the corner 7-11.
Anyone smart enough to personally get a substantial amount of heroin back from halfway across the world could probably figure out a way to swing it to a wholesaler without becoming a victim of a rip-off.
Here’s just one example of how Big Time Drug Inc.would handle Just Home Johnny and his heroin. He lets Dime Bag Donny know he has a pound of H to sell and Donny lets his higher ups know.
A few days later Johnny get a letter in the mail. Its a list of names, his children, parents, aunts, uncles, etc. and where they live, work, go to school, etc. He is then told that these individuals will start disappearing if he doesn’t deliver the H to a certain location by such and such a time.
Now tell me just what Johnny and his Afgan training is going to do?
Go to the police? Call a few of his army buddies together and assign them to body guard duty?
not really. Dealers are businessmen first, criminals second, if they can make a profit on a deal with no fuss they do it. Why would you risk the police attention from kidnapping or murdering people to save $10 or $20 K when you can make more than that from dealing in a day?
Theres also the fact the the dealer might want repeat business (the guy has other buddies coming home right?), ripping off someone doesn’t make for a long lasting partnership.
I’m seconding this. When I got into the country from overseas they just had me fill out a form. When I left the warzone they had me unroll everything, even my individual socks, to make sure I wasn’t taking anything home. Hell, they even pulled out a girl’s vibrator from her bag.