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Senior NCO Faces Charges in Meth Smuggling Scheme at Fort Liberty
A senior noncommissioned officer based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, has been charged in connection with a multi-year scheme to smuggle methamphetamine across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sgt. Maj. Jorge E. Garcia, the career counselor for U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), is accused of making unauthorized trips abroad, smuggling meth, providing false information about his whereabouts, engaging in fraudulent charges on his government travel card, and coordinating drug activity with gangs online. The case is the latest involving drug-related criminal activity at Fort Liberty, the prominent Army installation previously known as Fort Bragg.
Sgt. Maj. Garcia, currently in military pretrial confinement since June 2023, faces charges related to at least five unauthorized trips abroad between 2021 and 2022. Authorities allege that one of these trips included travel to Tijuana, Mexico, during which Garcia engaged in “cyber-related activities” supporting a criminal gang associated with an extremist cause. In May 2023, he was reportedly apprehended at San Ysidro, near San Diego, with approximately 24 pounds of methamphetamine, indicating an intent to distribute.
The charges also include allegations of fraudulent activity, such as accruing a $241.89 charge at The Flirt Lounge in Arlington, Virginia, a nightclub near the Pentagon, on his government travel card in October 2021.
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This incident follows the recent 15-year sentencing of former Fort Liberty soldier Gordon Custis, a specialist and medic, for trafficking ketamine while on duty and laundering over $700,000. Sgt. Shabrea Bright, also implicated in the scheme, awaits trial. Fort Liberty has witnessed the highest number of overdose deaths among military installations, with 31 fatalities reported between 2015 and 2021.
The base has been under scrutiny for drug-related issues, with at least 13 soldiers from the Army’s Special Operations Command investigated for drug trafficking last year. Fort Liberty is situated in the Corridor H, a region flagged by the Justice Department for heavy drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl, encompassing the I-95 highway stretching from Miami to Houlton, Maine.
In March 2022, Spc. Jacob Dickerson, a military police officer at Fort Liberty, was sentenced to 75 days in prison, discharged from service, and given a bad-conduct discharge after selling oxycodone from his military police vehicle. The incident adds to concerns about drug-related challenges at Fort Liberty and highlights the ongoing efforts to address illicit activities within the military community.
