Via the El Paso Times: 4 Bliss soldiers charged with drug smuggling

Four Fort Bliss soldiers face charges related to an alleged conspiracy to smuggle cocaine from Colombia, the post announced Friday.

The soldiers are assigned to the 204th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Bliss, a unit that has performed several drug-interdiction missions in Colombia.

Charged were Staff Sgtt. Daniel Rosas, Staff Sgt. Victor J. Portales, Spc. Francisco Rosa and Staff Sgt. Kelvin G. Irizarry-Melendez. Trials are set for later this year for Rosas, Portales and Irizarry-Melendez, but no trial date has yet been set for Rosa.

The four face various charges stemming from an alleged scheme between May 2024 and January 2024 to smuggle cocaine from Colombia to the United States.

[…]

They allegedly were attempting to smuggle 35 pounds of cocaine on their military aircraft, according to previous reports.

I always find these stories interesting because some people seem to think that only those “other” people (i.e., non-Americans) succumb to corruption. And all this illustrates to me is that corrupting influence of drug money is sufficiently pervasive as to be a serious problem period.