Complex sentence: But he was apparently never far from his adolescent foundations or his mentors--in 1981, he was implicated as point man in a smuggling operation involving US military personnel moving marijuana from southeast Asia to California.
Split into simpler sentences: But he was apparently never far from his adolescent foundations or his mentors. In 1981, he was implicated as point man in a Smuggling Operation utilizing US Military Personnel to move quantities of Cannabis from South East Asia to California.