Johns Island man pleads guilty to importing heroin

  • Staff and wire reports
  • Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2012 4:20 p.m.
  • Text size: A A A
PROVIDEDFederal prosecutors say a Johns Island man smuggled heroin into the United States inside DVD and CD cases. An attached PDF shows two of DVD cases in various stages of disassabembly.

A former U.S. Army captain from Johns Island has pleaded guilty to importing heroin from Afghanistan into the United States.

Saleem Sharif, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. He entered the plea today in U.S. District Court in Delaware. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison at sentencing Jan. 15.

Sharif, a West Point graduate, was working as a contractor in Afghanistan when, by his own admission, he imported at least 2.5 kilos of heroin into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware. Sharif reportedly concealed the heroin in DVD cases.

Sharif is the 15th person to plead guilty in connection with a drug operation based in Wilmington, Del, prosecutors said.

The imported heroin was reportedly sold in Texas and Washington, D.C., but there is no mention in a written release from the government of Sharif marketing the drug in the Palmetto State.

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