OTTAWA, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Canada's military says it won't investigate British media allegations that Canadian soldiers smuggled heroin out of Afghanistan.
In reports during the weekend, the Sunday Times of London and the BBC alleged Canadian and British troops have been smuggling large quantities of heroin out of Afghanistan on military aircraft taking troops back to Britain where it was allegedly sold to drug traffickers for street sale, Canadian Broadcasting News reported.
Canadian military sources said Monday a thorough check with officials at Kandahar Air Field and through the chain of command found no allegations of Canadian heroin smuggling and that there will be no investigation of any smuggling, the CBC said.
The military sources called the reports a case of media speculation.
"The Canadian Forces Military Police have confirmed with Britain's Royal Military Police that no such investigation is under way and that no such allegations have been made against either British or Canadian personnel," Col. Tim Grubb, Canadian Forces provost marshal, said in a statement.
Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was aware of the smuggling allegations raised in the media reports.
"Although they are unsubstantiated, we take any such reports very seriously and we have already tightened our existing procedures both in Afghanistan and in the U.K., including through increasing the use of trained sniffer dogs," a ministry statement said.
