Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers may have trafficked heroin from Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said they were aware of "unsubstantiated" claims that troops were using military aircraft to ship the drug out of the country.

The inquiry is focusing on service personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.

Security has been tightened, with additional sniffer dogs being used as part of the crackdown at the bases.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "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 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."

Afghanistan is the source of 90% of the world's opium.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11277466

Nice one Bobbdobbs. I mean, er...

Well they are sol poorly paid and army accommodation leaves a lot to be desired for the lower ranks. And with government cutbacks in disability benefits this might make sense.

Given that the American troops were out there, actually protecting the fields, it is hardly surprising...

Probably some busybody noticed the packages coming in and raised an alarm, now they have to route the stuff into a different airport, whilst do an investigation...

In the morning to you, Dave.

In the morning, Heather

Bit shoddy really, this isn't just drug dealing. This is potentially aiding and abetting enemy combatants. Serious stuff indeed.

Not necessarily. These would be bought from farmers and middlemen. If not whey were the americans protecting the crops?

Oooohhh so buying from middlemen means the money stops there. I see. None of it will end up financing Mr. Taleban. That's ok then.

The Taliban were not involved, before the invasion they were trying to cut it out. Though now they are using it to provide funds. That said this will not necessarily be Taliban protected heroin. The Taliban would be moving across the Iranian and Pakistani borders. So it is not funding or supporting the Taliban.

The Taleban's income is from a variety of organised crime via kick backs on the reconstruction programs, and about the only other thing the region produces - opium. That region is responsible for about 9/10s of the global opium supply. It's not just ending up in the pockets of the local farmers, it's going further up the chain. The connection between the Taleban and the heroin trade is well established, isn't it? Everything I'm reading about the Taleban's funding would seem to suggest so.

Yes but if taken to its logical conclusion would mean that we should arrest UK junkies for providing funds for terrorism. The same applies to cocaine and the impact on columbian terrorism.

Big difference between being a user and aiding the supply, and likewise we're not currently at war with anyone in Columbia.
That's the point - the penalty for aiding and abetting an enemy combatant is, well, wasn't it firing squad not too long ago?

Yes but there is a civil war in Columbia and we are supposedly on the governments side.

But the Taliban has always been against drugs and neary wiped out the opium crops, before the Americans invaded. A lot of the opium isn't turned into herion and is used by the pharmaceutical industry.

That was the case, as far as I can tell.
Now they've a war to fight and a very successful cash crop sitting there being used to finance it.
The US control of the fields is about cutting off funding to the Taliban.
Taliban suspected of stock piling opium
From the UN - Drugs finance Taliban war machine.

According to this UN briefing, “Proceeds from [drug] trafficking are bolstering the positions of warlords and terrorist organizations, and threatening the development of democratic institutions”, said Mr. McClean. “Trafficking presents a clear threat to the national security of Afghanistan.”