AP Exclusive: Greed turned U.S. soldiers into drug traffickers

[Judi Lynn]

AP Exclusive: Greed turned U.S. soldiers into drug traffickers

09/03/2005

By KIM HOUSEGO / Associated Press


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Rosas was deployed to Colombia as part of the large U.S. mission to fight drug trafficking, but before long he found the lure of cocaine money too hard to resist. He formed a smuggling ring involving U.S. soldiers that was eventually busted, deeply embarrassing U.S. officials.

A deposition obtained by The Associated Press shows Rosas' scheme was so amateurish that at one point he made a deal with a stranger he met in a Mexican nightclub bathroom and even saw a $140,000 payment vanish in the mail. The authenticity of Rosas' sworn statement was recently confirmed by a Colombian official familiar with the case.

The document provides for the first time a detailed look into how the drug ring operated and shows that, with stunning ease, it was able to send 170 pounds of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, subject to only cursory searches at best from U.S. Customs agents.

"They never suspected that any military or civilian personnel would bring back contraband," Rosas said in the March 31 sworn statement to military investigators at Fort Bliss, Texas. "They did not use dogs, they very rarely checked our carryon bags but never checked our equipment that was loaded on the pallets."

U.S. Ambassador William Wood said in the wake of the arrests on March 28 that U.S. soldiers leaving Colombia would be subjected to stricter searches. The case infuriated many Colombians who said President Alvaro Uribe should revoke treaties granting immunity to U.S. soldiers serving in Colombia.
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http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8CCMK780.html
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[bemildred]

1. Bump. nt

[moof]

2. To bad he did not know he was on BFEE's territory "p-a-t-s-y"

.

[leesa]

3. They must have cut into US Gov. drug smuggling profits.