In December 2020, two bodies were found in a patch of woods at a remote training range on Fort Bragg. One was a Delta Force operator named William "Billy" Lavigne II. The other was Timothy Dumas, a veteran who’d been kicked out of the Army just months before he could retire.
It looked like a hit. It felt like a movie. But for investigative journalist Seth Harp, it was just the tip of a very ugly iceberg.
If you’ve been following the news lately, you've probably seen Harp's name popping up in some pretty intense headlines. He’s the guy who wrote The Fort Bragg Cartel, a book that basically alleges the most elite soldiers in the world—guys from Delta Force and Green Berets—were running a literal narco-trafficking ring right under the nose of the Pentagon. Honestly, the details he’s dug up are enough to make anyone lose sleep.
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The Investigation That Started with Two Bodies
Seth Harp didn't just stumble onto this. He's an Army veteran himself. He served in the Reserves and did a tour in Iraq, which is probably why he’s so good at talking to these guys. He speaks the language. When he started looking into the Lavigne and Dumas murders, he realized the Army’s "official" numbers on deaths at the base weren't adding up.
He found that between 2020 and 2021, a staggering 109 soldiers died at Fort Bragg. Think about that. 109. Only four of them died in combat. The rest? Overdoses, suicides, and "mysterious" homicides.
Harp basically argues that decades of constant, "forever" wars have broken the Special Forces culture. He describes a world where soldiers are high on crack, trafficking grenades, and working with international cartels. It's not the Black Hawk Down hero narrative we're used to seeing. It's much darker. He tells this story of Billy Lavigne, a man who had 14 deployments and was reportedly addicted to crack while still serving in the most secretive unit in the military.
Why the 109 Deaths Matter
The military is usually a fortress when it comes to information. But Harp used FOIA requests and old-fashioned "boots on the ground" reporting in Fayetteville to show that Fort Bragg had a higher death rate than some combat zones.
- Impunity: Harp claims there is a "two-tier" justice system. Special Forces guys often get a pass on things that would land a regular soldier in Leavenworth.
- Drug Links: The book alleges that the same skills used to hunt insurgents in Afghanistan were repurposed to move product for cartels.
- The Toll of War: It’s not just about "bad apples." It’s about the physical and psychic cost of doing 15 deployments in 20 years.
Seth Harp, Delta Force, and the 2026 Subpoena Drama
Things got even crazier recently. If you're keeping up with the news in early 2026, you know Harp is currently in a massive legal battle with Congress.
It started when he posted the name of a Delta Force commander on X (formerly Twitter). This commander was allegedly involved in the 2026 mission to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and other GOP members went ballistic, accusing him of "doxxing" a hero and putting a family at risk. They even voted to subpoena him.
Harp’s defense is pretty straightforward: he says the information was already public on a university website. He argues that if you’re a high-ranking officer leading a massive military operation, your identity isn't a state secret—it’s public record.
This isn't just a spat between a reporter and a politician. It’s a huge First Amendment moment. Press freedom groups are freaking out because if a journalist can be prosecuted for naming a military commander, what else can the government hide?
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Cartel"
When people hear "Fort Bragg Cartel," they think of a massive, organized hierarchy like something out of Sicario. But Harp’s reporting suggests it’s more of a "confederation."
It’s small groups of guys who knew each other downrange. They realized they could move money and "merchandise" (meaning drugs and guns) because nobody checks the bags of a Delta Force operator. Dumas, the guy found dead in the woods, was apparently the "logistics" guy. He knew how to falsify records in the property books so that grenades and rifles just... disappeared.
It’s scary stuff. And it’s not just a North Carolina problem. Harp links this culture to the broader "War on Terror" tactics. He talks about the "Find, Fix, Finish" cycle used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Basically, if you train men for twenty years to be untraceable ghosts who operate outside the law, don't be surprised when some of them keep doing it when they get home.
Where Does This Leave Us?
The Army hasn't exactly welcomed Harp with open arms. They’ve disputed some of his more "sensational" claims, and some critics say he’s connecting dots that don't necessarily lead to a "cartel." But even the skeptics admit the number of deaths at Fort Bragg is a national scandal.
If you're looking for a way to actually make sense of this, you've gotta look at the systemic stuff. It's easy to blame one "rogue" soldier, but 109 deaths in two years is a leadership failure.
Actionable Steps for Staying Informed:
- Read the source material: Don't just take the headlines' word for it. Check out Harp's original Rolling Stone reporting or his book for the specific evidence on the Lavigne case.
- Track the Congressional Subpoena: The House Oversight Committee’s moves against Harp will set a precedent for how much we’re allowed to know about "secret" military missions.
- Look at the FOIA data: You can actually look up military casualty reports yourself. It's a grim task, but it provides the raw data that the Pentagon doesn't always put in its press releases.
The story of Seth Harp and Fort Bragg is still being written, especially with the HBO series in development and the ongoing legal fight in D.C. It’s a reminder that "thank you for your service" shouldn't mean "we're not going to look at what you’re doing." Transparency is the only thing that keeps these institutions from rotting from the inside out.
To dig deeper into the actual numbers and the names of the soldiers involved, you can look into the public FOIA releases regarding the 2020-2021 casualty reports from the Department of the Army.