HBO lands TV rights for The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp

HBO has acquired television rights to The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces, a new nonfiction book by investigative journalist and military veteran Seth Harp that examines a string of unsolved killings and alleged narcotics networks tied to U.S. Special Forces at Fort Bragg. The deal, won after what outlets described as a competitive bidding contest, positions HBO to develop the material into a series with Harp and former HBO Films president Len Amato serving as executive producers through Amato’s company CrashSalvage. The search for a writer and showrunner is under way.

Harp’s book, published by Viking in August, begins with an investigation into the 2020 double homicide of two soldiers found dead on a remote Fort Bragg training range and expands into reporting that, he says, reveals a broader pattern of drug smuggling, unsolved killings and institutional coverups. An excerpt that appeared in Rolling Stone recounts the deaths of Master Sgt. William Billy Lavigne II, an active duty Delta Force operator, and Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Dumas Sr., a logistics soldier attached to Joint Special Operations Command, and alleges those men were...