The Fort Bragg Cartel

Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces

De: Seth Harp

Narrado por: Dan John Miller

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Propulsive.”—The Washington Post

“Engrossing. . . . Truly shocking.” —The New Republic

“The Fort Bragg Cartel opens like a nonfiction thriller and never lets up. A page-turning investigation into the dark side of our forever wars.”—Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars and Directorate S

A groundbreaking investigation into a string of unsolved murders at America’s premier special operations base, and what the crimes reveal about drug trafficking and impunity among elite soldiers in today’s military

In December 2020, a deer hunter discovered two dead bodies that had been riddled with bullets and dumped in a forested corner of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One of the dead men, Master Sergeant William “Billy” Lavigne, was a member of Delta Force, the most secretive “black ops” unit in the military. A deeply traumatized veteran of America’s classified assassination program, Lavigne had done more than a dozen deployments in his lengthy career, was addicted to crack cocaine, dealt drugs on base, and had committed a series of violent crimes before he was mysteriously killed. The other victim, Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Dumas, was a quartermaster attached to the Special Forces who used his proximity to clandestine missions to steal guns and traffic drugs into the United States from abroad, and had written a blackmail letter threatening to expose criminality in the special operations task force in Afghanistan.

As soon as Seth Harp, an Iraq war veteran and investigative reporter, begins looking into the double murder, he learns that there have been many more unexplained deaths at Fort Bragg recently, other murders connected to drug trafficking in elite units, and dozens of fatal overdoses. Drawing on declassified documents, trial transcripts, police records, and hundreds of interviews, Harp tells a scathing story of narco-trafficking in the Special Forces, drug conspiracies abetted by corrupt police, blatant military cover-ups, American complicity in the Afghan heroin trade, and the pernicious consequences of continuous war.

©2025 Seth Harp (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The Fort Bragg Cartel focuses on the sleazy world of a couple of U.S. Army special operators who got heavily into dealing drugs and using them in vast quantities. . . . It seems that we all are doomed to continue finding new ways to pay the bills—physical, emotional, financial, moral—of wars that never seem to end.”—Thomas E. Ricks, The New York Times Book Review

“[An] explosive investigation into drug dealing, murder, and suicide within America’s special operations forces groups, notably superelite Delta Force. . . . A book to be taken seriously by the country’s political class and military establishment.”—Jeff Calder, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Engrossing. . . . Harp chronicles some of the more troubling goings-on in this haunted region and the secretive, self-destructive warrior culture that has defined it for decades. . . . Truly shocking . . . Harp digs into the region’s thrumming undercut of plunder and violence, tracing a bloody trail that includes bullet-riddled bodies, sexual assault, a suspicious drowning, and a severed head. In July 2022, one man even fell from the sky.”—Jasper Craven, The New Republic

decent but warped

parts are great until it devolves into liberal drivel. performance, the narration was very commendable.

Interesting but bias

Interesting read. But the author definitely has a bias outlook. Almost seems like he was wronged by the SOF community when he was in the service.

Incredible, insane

Seth really paints a picture of the intertwining stories, rarely embellishing the inherent rot at their center.

wildly informative & entertaining

i loved the compelling character-driven writing style. i have heard bits and pieces of this story for years, but to have all the details laid out so concisely made it my favorite book this year.

Wow

Incredibly well researched and powerfully written. A truly eye-opening indictment of the American special forces and the modern myth of The Operator.

Great investigative reporting!

Detailed reporting, this book was written well and the narrator did a great job. The story itself is extremely saddening for me as a former Spec Ops soldier. I was at Bragg for a few years prior to all this happening, but serving within the community I can unfortunately see how these horrible and tragic events happened . Great work I was happy with it and recommend anyone who wants to listen to a story you can’t stop listening to, this is it.

You should write a disclaimer.

No other department of the military has ever needed the amount of press, glam and fawning attention as special operations! This book will open many eyes to a shadow realm; at no small danger to the author

*** It may be necessary for you to write a disclaimer stating that you are not suicidal. Write one, record one, etc, and leave copies with several people.

Pretty revealing

Gives a perspective on a part of the military that is so exalted in the popular imagination, a kind of reality check.

Interesting reporting

I’m sure 75% of these special forces began their careers with good intentions. I thank them for those original intentions. Unfortunately, training humans to be unempathetic and fueling them with drugs along the way, has no happy ending. There will always be a part of my heart that thinks of them as heroes, but my brain knows that is too much of a “Pollyanna” of a worldview. I hope all these service members find peace.

Great storytelling

This is an unbelievable story about corruption, drugs, the military, and an actual multi-tiered system of justice. The authors research for this book is clearly in depth and significant. The book explores several "hidden truths" about our military conflicts and the elite units who participate in the most covert missions. At a minimum, this is a tale of how military leadership has continued to fail its membership, the people of the United States, especially the communities where it is most present and the innocent civilians of nations which we are or were at war with.