Ken Hechtman (born December 16, 1967) is a freelance journalist and convicted drug dealer from Canada who achieved brief international prominence in late 2001 when Afghanistan's Taliban government charged him with being a United States spy while he researched a story for the Montreal Mirror.
[1] Hechtman was born in Montreal, Canada and attended Columbia University from 1987 to 1988.
[2] He was suspended from Columbia from a year for stealing depleted Uranium-238 and other dangerous chemicals, and was required to reapply for admission.
[3] On November 25, 2001, he was captured by the Taliban hours after crossing into Afghanistan, while working as a reporter for the Montreal Mirror.
Hechtman allegedly "developed a sophisticated marketing system with a sales team of about 40 people.