FAST KCO Memorial Unveiled In Honor of Fallen DEA Special Agents and Military Personnel Ahead of 24th Anniversary of September 11

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, September 4, 2025, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unveiled and dedicated a new memorial in honor of 10 Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team (FAST) members – three DEA Special Agents and seven U.S. military personnel – whose lives were lost in a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan in 2009.

Following the Taliban’s attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, DEA formed FAST to combat heroin production in Afghanistan, which was in part funding the activities of this terrorist organization. In partnership with DEA’s Kabul Country Office (KCO), U.S. Special Operations Forces, Allied Special Operation Forces, and their counterparts, FAST conducted several operations leading to record-breaking seizures of drugs, chemicals, weapons, and explosive devices. This team was also responsible for successfully dismantling several heroin production labs, effectively depriving revenue from the Taliban. The most notable FAST missions were:

• Operation Albatross in the Red Desert, which resulted in the seizure and destruction of 286 tons of hashish, and
• Operation Siege Engine, which resulted in the seizure and destruction of 18 tons of opium, 72 tons of poppy seed, 200 kilograms of heroin, 90 kilograms of morphine, precursor chemicals, explosives, and materials to construct improvised explosive devices.   

Following a successful joint counter-narcotics mission in western Afghanistan on October 26, 2009, a U.S. military helicopter crashed killing three DEA Special Agents and seven U.S. military personnel. 

16 years later, and one week before this year’s remembrance of September 11 attacks, DEA hosted family, friends, and colleagues – including members from FAST, KCO and the military – as well as leadership from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Defense for an unveiling and dedication ceremony for the DEA Museum’s newest memorial.

The FAST KCO Memorial honors the ten brave heroes lost in that helicopter crash, including DEA Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon (FAST), Special Agent Chad L. Michael (FAST), and Special Agent Michael E. Weston (KCO).  Also honored from the 7th Special Forces Group SFC David E. Metzger and SSG Keith R. Bishop; from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment CW4 Michael P. Montgomery, CW3 Niall D. Lyons, SSG Shawn H. McNabb, SGT Josue E. Hernandez-Chavez, and SGT Nickolas A. Mueller.

Special Agent Leamon’s 15-year-old son joined DEA Administrator Terrance Cole to unveil the memorial in front of the more than 200 invited guests.

This dedication ceremony held deep personal meaning for Administrator Cole, who proudly served in the Kabul Country Office when it was first established. “This memorial honors the courage and sacrifice of law enforcement, our military, and the families who stand with them when called to serve and protect our homeland,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Our nation once again faces unprecedented challenges as we confront foreign terrorist organizations on multiple fronts. DEA remains steadfast in working alongside our military and international partners to safeguard the innocent, dismantle the terrorist networks that threaten our national security, and uphold our enduring commitment to defend the United States of America.”

The FAST KCO Memorial will be prominently displayed alongside DEA’s 9/11 Memorial in the lobby of DEA Headquarters. Included in the Memorial are artifacts recovered from the site, which were enshrined in a shadowbox by surviving FAST members including Special Agent Michael’s MK 48, Special Agent Leamon’s M6, and the U.S. Marine Corps dog tag worn by Special Agent Weston.  In addition, visitors can see a FAST uniform, tactical gear, and other related artifacts. For those unable to visit the memorial, the history of FAST is available for viewing at DEAMuseum.org

The FAST KCO Memorial is open to the public and can be visited during normal DEA Museum operations. For museum hours, location, and FAQs please visit DEAMuseum.org.

DEA: Afghan Heroin Conspiracy Foiled

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today announced charges against three significant Afghan heroin traffickers, two of which were arrested in Thailand and subsequently brought to the United States. HAJI LAJAWARD, AMAL SAID SAID ALAM SHAH, a/k/a “Haji Zar Mohammad,” and HABIBULLAH  were charged with conspiring to import heroin into the United States.  LAJAWARD and SHAH were arrested in Thailand on June 13, 2015, and subsequently brought to the United States.  They will be presented and arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis this afternoon.  HABIBULLAH remains at large.

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“Like many international criminal networks, these alleged drug traffickers have no respect for borders, and no regard for either the rule of law or who they harm as a result of their criminal endeavors,” said Mark Hamlet, the DEA Special Agent-in Charge of the Special Operations Division.  “This investigation highlights the significance of Afghanistan as a source for heroin around the world.  I wish to thank all of our international law enforcement partners for their outstanding efforts and partnership in dismantling this sophisticated and dangerous international criminal enterprise.”

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “At a time when heroin use and overdose deaths are on the rise in our communities, these three men allegedly conspired to import into this country kilogram quantities of heroin from Afghanistan.  I want to thank the DEA for their excellent work in investigating this matter.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment, the defendants and others conspired between May 2014 and April 2015 to violate U.S. narcotics laws prohibiting the importation of heroin.  Specifically, the Indictment charges LAJAWARD, SHAH, and HABIBULLAH with conspiring to (i) import one or more kilograms of heroin into the United States from a foreign country; and (ii) distribute one or more kilograms of heroin knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States. 

As alleged in the Indictment, on January 15, 2015, Lajaward caused the delivery of three kilograms of heroin to another individual in Kabul, Afghanistan, while, on the same day, Habibullah received payment for that heroin in the United Arab Emirates.  Later that day, Lajaward and Shah spoke on the phone regarding the heroin transaction. 

The charge in the Indictment carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.  The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge

Leading the investigation were DEA’s Special Operations Division; the DEA’s Kabul, Dubai, Tokyo, and Bangkok Country Offices; the DEA’s New York Field Division; the CNP-A Sensitive Investigative Unit of the Afghan Ministry of the Interior; the Dubai Police Department and the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the Emirati Ministry of Interior; Japan’s National Police Agency and the Saitama Prefectural Police; Thailand’s Sensitive Investigative Unit of the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau; Thailand’s Attorney General’s Office; Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; INTERPOL; the U.S. Department of State; and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.

Australian Man Pleads Guilty to Accepting Payment as Reward for Steering $15 Million in U.S.-Funded Contracts in Afghanistan

Defendant Accepted $10,000 and Sought $190,000

WASHINGTON   - A former senior construction manager who worked as an agent for an intergovernmental organization pleaded guilty today to seeking $190,000 in payments as a reward for steering U.S.-funded contracts in Afghanistan, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Inspector General Donald A. Gambatesa; Acting Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Steven J Trent; and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Neil P. Campbell, 61, of Queensland, Australia, pleaded guilty today before Judge Rosemary M. Collyer in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of accepting an illegal payment as an agent of an organization receiving federal funds.   Campbell was originally charged on Aug. 19, 2010.   He was arrested in New Delhi, India, in October 2010, and extradited to the United States in February 2011.   Campbell’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 14, 2011.

According to court records, starting in January 2009, Campbell worked in Afghanistan as a contractor and acted as an agent for the International Organization on Migration (IOM).   The IOM has received more than $260 million from USAID since 2002 to construct hospitals, schools and other facilities.

In his plea, Campbell admitted that in July 2010, while in Afghanistan, he solicited a one-time cash payment of $190,000 from a subcontractor in Afghanistan as a reward for funneling more than $15 million in reconstruction projects to that subcontractor to build a hospital and a provincial teaching college.  In August 2010, Campbell met an undercover USAID investigator posing as the subcontractor’s representative and accepted a $10,000 cash payment.   Campbell counted the money and requested that the remaining funds come to him in one payment.   In October 2010, Campbell traveled to New Delhi, India, where he believed he would be receiving the remaining $180,000.   He was arrested at the New Delhi International Airport by agents of the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation.

“This conviction of an Australian citizen who was extradited from India for corruptly steering the use of U.S. federal dollars in Afghanistan shows the seriousness of our commitment to protecting the American taxpayer,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “We will continue to deploy investigative resources around the world to ensure that criminals who exploit our generosity are held accountable in an American courtroom.”

“Mr. Campbell steered millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to a subcontractor in Afghanistan and sought illegal riches in return,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.   “In the name of U.S. reconstruction efforts, he decided to try and cash in.   The Justice Department will not tolerate this kind of flagrant corruption, and will continue to hold criminals like Mr. Campbell to account.”

“We will continue in our partnership with other law enforcement agencies to bring the full force of the government against those who seek private gain in the midst of such hard economic times,” said Inspector General Gambatesa.  “There is zero tolerance for such abuse of federal funds.”

“Crimes like this divert money from legitimate uses and undermine the U.S. reconstruction effort,” said Acting SIGAR Trent.  “SIGAR agents are proud to have participated in this case, which shows that those who defraud the United States in Afghanistan will be found and brought to justice.”

“In this case an overseas contractor thought that fraudulent activity would go unnoticed, permitting an illegal profit from the American people,” said FBI Assistant Director McJunkin. “Today’s plea is a reminder that taking fraudulent payments and misrepresenting U.S. interests has its consequences.”

Campbell faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.   Campbell also agreed in his plea to forfeiture of $10,000, which represents the one illegal payment he received.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Solomon of the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Ryan S. Faulconer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Substantial assistance was provided by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Vasu B. Muthyala, the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché and the Judicial Attaché Office in Kabul. The case is being investigated by the USAID Office of Inspector General, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and members of the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF).

The ICCTF is a joint law enforcement agency task force that seeks to detect, investigate, and dismantle corruption and contract fraud resulting from U.S. Overseas Contingency Operations worldwide, including in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Former Army Reserve Captain Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Soliciting $1.3 Million in Bribes and Conspiring to Traffic Heroin

WASHINGTON—A former captain in the U.S. Army Reserve stationed in Afghanistan was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for soliciting $1.3 million in bribes from contractors involved in U.S.-funded reconstruction efforts and participating in a conspiracy to traffic heroin from Southeast Asia.

The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Sidharth Handa, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia. Handa was also ordered to pay $315,000 in restitution. Handa, of Charlotte, N.C., pleaded guilty on June 21, 2011, to soliciting and accepting bribes while serving as a public official and to conspiring to distribute a kilogram of heroin.

“Mr. Handa used his official position assisting the United States’ reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan to line his pockets,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “He promised multi-million-dollar contracts to Afghan businessmen in exchange for cash. He was so meticulous about collecting his bribes that he kept track of them on a spreadsheet. We will not tolerate this kind of fraud and abuse. Today’s sentence reflects the disgracefulness of Mr. Handa’s conduct.”

“This case is the largest bribery prosecution to date from our mission in Afghanistan,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “From the day he stepped foot in Afghanistan, Mr. Handa negotiated a staggering amount of bribes from contractors in a blatant breach of the trust our military put in him. His actions brought shame to our mission, harmed our reconstruction efforts, and defrauded American taxpayers who funded the contracts he looted.”

According to court records, Handa was stationed in Afghanistan from March through November 2008 and served as the liaison to the local governor and engineers on the Kunar Province Reconstruction Team (PRT). In that position, Handa assisted in awarding reconstruction project contracts funded by the U.S. government to local contractors through a competitive bidding process. Handa admitted that almost immediately upon his arrival in Afghanistan, he became engaged in a scheme to secure bribes from contractors who sought to secure large PRT construction projects. With the help of an Afghan interpreter, Handa typically solicited bribes equal to 10 percent of the overall contract value, though the actual bribe payment was negotiated based on the contractor’s ability to pay. The total value of bribes contractors agreed to pay amounted to $1,323,000, and Handa and the interpreter collected $315,000, which they split evenly.

Handa admitted that after leaving Afghanistan, he tried to collect over $1 million in bribe money that contractors had pledged to pay. A cooperating witness (CW) offered to help Handa collect the money, and through 2010 and early 2011 Handa provided the CW with details of outstanding bribes and other relevant facts to help secure the promised bribes. During the course of these conversations with the CW, Handa indicated that he knew people in the drug business and he and the CW developed plans to sell kilogram quantities of Southeast Asian heroin to Handa’s drug contacts.

According to court documents, on April 7, 2011, Handa met with the CW and an undercover officer in a northern Virginia hotel, where Handa received what he believed was $500,000 in collected bribe payments and acknowledged that he knew the right people to receive the kilogram of heroin the undercover officer showed him. Law enforcement arrested Handa as he was leaving the hotel with the bribe money, a loaded handgun and a spreadsheet detailing specific bribe amounts paid and outstanding.

This case was investigated jointly by member agencies of the International Contract Corruption Task Force, including the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and also by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Senor Trial Attorney David Bybee of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kosta Stojilkovic and Dennis Fitzpatrick of the Eastern District of Virginia.

Afghan Judges Receive First Law Books

By Senior Airman Dilia DeGrego, USAF
Special to American Forces Press Service

Aug. 28, 2007 - The 37 judges in Afghanistan's Parwan province are the first of more than 450 judges within the Regional Command East area of responsibility to receive complete sets of Afghan law books. Delivered Aug. 25 by the Bagram Reconstruction Team and Army Lt. Col. Chris Jacobs, a attorney with the Combined Joint Task Force 82 Staff Judge Advocate Office, these books are the first to be distributed as part of an Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and United States Agency for International Development initiative to distribute complete sets of Afghan law books to every judge in the country.

"For the first time since the Soviet era, each judge in Regional Command East will have complete access to up-to-date Afghan laws," said Army Capt. Ryan Kerwin, another attorney with Combined Joint Task Force 82. "This is significant, because most Afghan judges have either limited or no access to published law. This lack of legal resources made it very difficult, if not impossible, to correctly apply the law and ensure uniformity throughout the Afghan court system. The judges will now have the tools to make rulings based upon the laws of Afghanistan."

Each set of law books consists of 17 volumes that cover both Criminal Justice and civil law, including the constitution of Afghanistan, penal and civil codes, counternarcotics and human-rights law.

Parwan Chief Judge Fazil Rahmman Habibi and Head Army Prosecutor Zikria Shitab said they are very glad to receive the law books.

"I cannot remember the last time each judge had his own set of Afghan law books," Habibi said. "We really appreciate getting these books; we've been in need of them, but they are very expensive, so we are grateful to get them."

"We will be sure to distribute the books to all the judges of Parwan, they will gain a lot of knowledge from them," Shitab added.

It took several months to organize the project. To begin, thousands of books were published and prepared for delivery. Provincial reconstruction teams will help distribute the books to provincial courts throughout the country over the next several months.

Combined Joint Task Force 82 is working to improve the Afghan judicial system and help promote the rule of law in Afghanistan in various ways, from building courts and prosecutors' offices, and improving jails to providing legal resources and coordinating with agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"CJTF 82 has taken big steps to help push the rule of law in Afghanistan forward," Kerwin said. "Developing the rule of law in Afghanistan is a difficult task that will take decades. Judge advocates at both the headquarters and task forces have worked hard to help push the Afghan justice system forward."

(Air Force Senior Airman Dilia DeGrego is assigned to Combined Joint Task Force 82 Public Affairs.)