A soldier in the U.S. Army has been charged with trying to smuggle 40 kilograms (about 90 lbs.) of cocaine from Colombia to the U.S. state of Florida, military authorities told NBC News.
Army Master Sargeant Daniel Gould of the Special Forces was arrested after authorities from the Drug Enforcement Agency of the U.S. found the drugs inside two backpacks on a military plane at a base in Colombia. A separate official found the drugs and reported them as Gould was already back in the U.S. and had hired a third party to transport the drugs, per the NBC News story. The plane was scheduled to travel to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Gould had been vacationing in Cali the week prior to the discovery of the drugs.
“We are aware of recent allegations concerning a U.S. soldier assigned under U.S. Army Special Operations Command for reportedly attempting to smuggle narcotics from Colombia into the U.S.,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt wrote to NBC News in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement officials concerning this matter. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation and the rights of the individual, there is no additional information available for release at this time.”
