Canadian, U.K. troops implicated in Afghan heroin smuggling

The British media is reporting that the U.K. government is investigating Canadian and U.K. soldiers at Camp Bastion in Kandahar.

The Canadian military said yesterday it was looking into British media reports that soldiers from both countries are suspected of using military aircraft to ship heroin out of Afghanistan. The British government is believed to have launched an investigation into the matter. The allegations are unsubstantiated at this point but security has been heightened at Kandahar’s Camp Bastion, with extra drug-sniffer dogs being brought in. Afghanistan is the world’s largest exporter of heroin, and $3-billion worth of the drug leaves the country every year. Much of those profits end up in the hands of the Taliban, who use the money to wage war against NATO forces.