A senior United States Army Special Forces soldier has been arrested after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) discovered 40 kilograms of cocaine on a military plane in the South American country of Colombia. The plane was destined for Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida, where the soldier was stationed with 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). The soldier arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle the cocaine is Master Sergeant Daniel Gould, who entered the United States Army in 2004.
MSG Gould was a highly decorated Green Beret, having received a Silver Star on August 17, 2010 for his actions as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant on ODA 7134 on the 20th of August, 2008. Gould was reportedly on vacation in Cali, Colombia in the weeks before the cocaine was discovered. Officials say that Gould arranged to have the two bags containing the drugs to be loaded onto the military aircraft by proxy, after he had already returned back to the United States. A military service member found the drugs before the aircraft had taken off and immediately notified authorities. Officials could not confirm or deny that the proxy that loaded the two military issue bags full of 40 kilos of cocaine had been aware what their contents were.
“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. 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.” said LTC Robert Bockholt, U.S. Special Operations Command’s Director of Public Affairs.
Gould’s unit, 7th Special Forces Group, routinely partners with South American militaries to assist in their counter-narcotics operations. This also isn’t the first high-profile case involving 7th Group and Colombia, with the 2011 prostitution controversy involving President Obama’s Secret Service detail and Green Berets from 7th Group.
