Being in the U.S. Air Force and wearing its uniform might seem like a good cover for those wanting to smuggle drugs into or across the country, but it offers no guarantee of not being caught as yet another airman has discovered.
Tech Sergeant Lantz Nave of Tucson, Arizona has just been found guilty of smuggling 15 kilograms of cocaine from Tucson to Phoenix whilst in uniform back in 2003, six months before he retired. It was only in 2005 that he was actually arrested, with the Air Force ordering him back to active duty so that he could be court-martialled. Undercover FBI agents had paid him $3000, which was captured on video.
He was convicted on charges that included cocaine possession, conspiracy and several counts of criminal solicitation after he tried to persuade the agents to help him set up a cocaine smuggling route to Kansas City, Missouri, his hometown. His lawyers claim he was the victim of entrapment by the FBI, an unwinnable defence in the light of the latter offence. He faces up to eight years in prison and the possible loss of his pension.
Last month Captain Franklin Rodriguez and Master Sergeant John Fong pleading guilty to smuggling ecstasy tablets from Germany to the U.S.