DEA News: 

Haji Bagcho

One of the largest heroin traffickers in the world has been convicted of conspiracy and distribution of heroin for importation into the United States and narco-terrorism charges.  

“One of the world’s most prolific drug traffickers reign has come to an end,” DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said. “Now Haji Bagcho will serve time behind bars on the same soil he sought to destroy with his drugs, and whose troops he sought to kill through his support to the Taliban…”

An investigation by DEA agents revealed that Haji Bagcho, an Afghan national with ties to the Taliban, was manufacturing the drug in clandestine laboratories along Afghanistan’s border region with Pakistan. 

Proceeds from his heroin trafficking were then used to support high-level members of the Taliban to further their insurgency.

During a search a ledger was discovered that catalogued Bagcho’s activities during 2006 and reflected heroin transactions of more than 123,000 kilograms, worth more than $250 million.  

Based on heroin production statistics compiled by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime that year, the defendant’s trafficking accounted at that time for approximately 20 percent of the world’s total production.

Bagcho faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and as long as a life sentence. Sentencing is set for June 12.