Video shows contractors drunk, high in Afghanistan
Cellphone footage aired by ABC News on Wednesday purportedly shows U.S. defense contractors in Afghanistan drinking, injecting themselves with illegal prescription drugs and throwing live ammunition rounds into a bonfire for entertainment.
The footage was given to ABC by two former employees of the contractor, Jorge Scientific, who told ABC they quit in disgust because they felt their colleagues’ actions endangered American troops as well as their own lives. The employees have filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Jorge Scientific.
The Pentagon is investigating, according to the ABC News report.
In the video, a man identified as the company’s security manager chugs vodka from a large jar, then staggers drunkenly around the room. In another scene, the company’s medical officer appears to be in a stupor after injecting himself with ketamine, a drug known as “Special K” commonly used to anesthetize cats during surgery.
The medical officer, Kevin Carlson, told ABC he frequently used narcotics and that there was "massive drug and alcohol abuse" at the compound. The lawsuit alleged several instances where duty stations “went unmanned while Jorge employees became intoxicated to the point of incapacitation.”
The lawsuit says the frequent parties endangered U.S. military personnel by drawing attention to the compound with “gunshots, extremely loud music, burning of furniture, and physical horseplay often involving weapons or fire extinguishers.”
The lawsuit also alleges, among other things, that the contractors illegally possessed grenades and firearms, that Jorge employees deceived and defrauded U.S. military personnel, and that the contractors’ attitudes and actions contributed to deteriorating relationships with the Afghan intelligence agency.
Jorge Scientific released a statement to ABC News saying several of the contractors seen in the video were no longer with the company and it has hired an outside team to investigate.
