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June 13th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
But US District Judge Ellen Huvelle rejected those arguments, saying Bagcho
was responsible for an “astronomical” quantity of drugs and that a
life sentence – the maximum possible prison term – was warranted.
Bagcho was also ordered to forfeit more than $254 million in drug proceeds.
Justice Department prosecutor Matthew Stiglitz said Bagcho was “really in
a class by himself” among drug traffickers but that the quantity of
drugs only tells part of the story. He urged the judge to take into account “what
is it he did with the money generated during this massive drug enterprise.”
Bagcho used some proceeds to provide support, including cash, weapons and
other supplies, to Taliban commanders who shielded his operation from the
police.
“Today’s life sentence is an appropriate punishment for one of the most
notorious heroin traffickers in the world,” Assistant Attorney General
Lanny Breuer said in a written statement.
Afghan authorities and the Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating
Bagcho in late 2004 and early 2005, relying on help from, among others, a
confidential informant who had once worked as Bagcho’s assistant and who
described for authorities the inner workings of the drug operation.
The assistant told authorities how he travelled with Bagcho to heroin
conversion laboratories and how he would help package heroin and transport
shipments, often while armed with an AK-47.
Others who provided help included an undercover Afghan police officer who
posed as a corrupt official and recorded phone calls with Bagcho in which
they discussed potential heroin sales into the United States, and a DEA
confidential source who told authorities that his father operated an opium
shop where Bagcho bought opium for conversion into heroin.
The DEA bought heroin directly from Bagcho’s operation, and also discovered a
ledger of transactions during their investigation showing that Bagcho’s
organisation was responsible for trafficking more than 123,000 kilograms of
heroin – with a wholesale value of more than $261 million – in 2006 alone.
Federal authorities say that amounted to roughly one-fifth of the total
amount of heroin produced worldwide that year.
After a first trial ended last fall with a hung jury, Bagcho was convicted in
March of conspiracy, distributing heroin for importation into the United
States and narcoterrorism. The Justice Department says this case is just the
second under the narcoterrorism statute to reach trial. The statute makes it
a crime to use drug sale proceeds to finance acts of terrorism.
Speaking rapidly through an interpreter, Bagcho appeared agitated as he
proclaimed his innocence, saying he was simply a merchant like his father
and grandfather before him and attempting to rehash elements of his trial.
Source: agencies
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