From Ralph McGehee Reference in CIABASE to: Drugs and the CIA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50-90 cia assigned minus-zero to narcotics. agency has its philosophy geared to communist threat. "it didn't give rats ass about opium." corn, d. (1994). blond ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 274 68-73 cia ops with bndd listed. cia memo 5/8/73 70-75 nixon put cia into anti-drug ops. gerry strickler head of latin american desk for bndd, conferred regularly with shackley - and gave bndd files to cia. cia used bndd info and recruited bndd targets as cia assets without telling bndd. corn, d. (1994). blond ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 258-260 80-99 stewart a. baker, former general-counsel of nsa, in dec issue of foreign policy magazine, "should spies be cops," looks at strenuous struggle among federal agencies that operate at intersection of law enforcement and intel gathering. since end of cold war and growth of transnational organized crime, it is harder to distinguish between targets of law enforcement and national security. baker reports serious risks to civil liberties and threats to foreign intel sources and methods grow exponentially. distinction may erode even further. bndd now dea found people they sought to bust had been recruited by cia - that was content to leave them in place as long as they got intel. in book "the big white lie," by michael levine he charges in early 80s, cia protected bolivia's cocaine-running dictator gen. luis garcia meza and his interior minister as well as their drug baron patrons. venezuela anti-drug unit funded by cia revealed to have smuggled more than 2000 pounds of cocaine into u.s. with cia knowledge. drugs sold on the streets. long-time cia asset vladimiro montesinos, is now behind autocratic gvt of president fujimori. in mexico, cia had fecund relationship with now dissolved federal security directorate (dfs), responsible for much drug-trafficking and other state-protected crime. emmanuel constant death squad mainstay for haiti's ousted military regime was on cia's payroll. washington times 12/19/94 a25 81-91 gao report drug control: status report on dod support to counternarcotics activities. u.s. general accounting office nsiad-91-117 38 pages 81-91 gao report, war on drugs: information management poses formidable challenges. u.s. general accounting office imtec-91-40 33 pages 82-96 cia drug charges re gangs in los angeles are garbage per oliver north. washington times 9/22/96 a2 82-96 dci deutch answers a question after a speech at georgetown u. 9/5/96 re articles in the san jose mercury that cia was involved with those connected with the drug trafficking trade in the early '80s in southern california. deutch: there has been extensive reporting in the san jose mercury newspaper that in the past, there was a cia connection between drug traffickers from colombia. first of all, we've reviewed past information. there have been frequent past independent studies. they're finding no connection whatsoever. i have just written today to congressman maxine waters, to senator boxer, and to congressman dicks, who have raised inquiries about this, that we have asked our independent inspector general to take a fresh look at it again. to the best of our knowledge, there has not been the connection that was alleged in the san jose newspaper.... email duane taurus.oac.uci.edu 9/5/96 83-92 at an international conference former dea officer, michael levine, claimed he listened as speakers from many nations lambasted u.s. war on drugs as fraudulent, phony, totally ineffective, as an excuse to invade other countries, as epitome of hypocrisy with american politicians and bureaucrats routinely consorting with biggest drug dealers and only prosecuting those without political power. extra 3/93 19-21 85-93 ex-dia agent lester coleman in his book, "on the trail of the octopus," describes his career with dia. in particular, coleman alleges u.s. intel attempts to conceal links with middle east drug operators contributed to panam 103 disaster in 12/88. coleman was indicted by a federal grand jury in new york on charges of perjury stemming from an affidavit he provided panam in 91. he now living in sweden. unclassified 1/94 23-4 88-92 lester coleman said he in 88 worked with eurame trading co., ltd, a dea proprietary in nicosia, cyprus. coleman said he found dea using trading company to sell computer software called "promise" or "promis" to drug control abuse agencies in cyprus, pakistan, syria, kuwait and turkey. coleman had been contacted by danny casolaro on 8/3/91. house judiciary committee. (1992). the inslaw affair 55,64-69 89 charting drug trade from the sky: u.s. points satellites at cartel crops. new york times * 10/14/89 n5 89 u.s. southern command formed tactical analysis teams (tats) to improve intel. ten teams in use today. tats use all-source intel; identify orgs; identify targets; produce target packages; provide imagery support; provide target identification. some areas heavy use of imagery analysis; in other possibly focus on signals intel (sigint). in many countries tat help determine collection priorities. to identify targets use humint, imagery intel, or sigint. first step to identify individuals and their links to others. military intelligence 3/95 12-17 90-96 a former dea agent has filed a federal class action suit against the cia, nsa and state department for unlawfully spying on him and other unnamed dea employees. lawsuit, filed 9/12/96 in federal district court in washington, d.c., claims the illegal electronic surveillance and eavesdropping of dea agents has been going on all over and has subverted crucial dea activities. richard horn, a 23-year veteran of the dea who currently serves as a group supervisor in field division in new orleans, is the only agent named in the class action suit. in 1994, horn had filed a lawsuit charging the former u.s. charge d' affairs for burma and burma cia chief of station with violating his civil rights by spying on him during his tour of duty in rangoon, burma. the defendants in that suit have successfully sought delays claiming, in part, that the suit threatens national security interests. horn, 49, served in burma in 1992 and 1993. pacific news service 9/12/96 90 gao report on coordination between the dea and fbi. u.s. general accounting office ggd-90-59 3/90 17 pages 91-92 cia established counternarcotics center, or cnc. an analytic non-operational intel center. perry, m. (1992). eclipse: the last days of the cia 15 92 dea to expand ops in cocaine-growing nations. washington times 7/6/92 a10 92-93 dea may have as many as 1000 fbi agents transferred to dea. intelligence newsletter 121/93 4 92-93 now cia developing agents in cali and medellin cartels. cia helped organize 89 ambush of drug kingpin jose gonzalo rodriguez gacha who killed in firefight with colombian police. newsweek 4/12/93 31 92 air national guard flying missions in drug war. washington times 7/5/92 a5 92 conference held in paris of "drugs: the new world disorder." presentations by former dea agent michael levine, alfred mccoy, alan block, and jack blum. conference centered on drug trafficking and money laundering. intelligence newsletter 12/17/92 1,5 92 dea faulted on computer security. dea commo equipment operator got info from dea's database, narcotics and dangerous drug info system (naddis) and gave it to a drug trafficker under investigation. other cases. jack anderson washington post 10/19/92 d11 92 gao report 4/92 "drug control: inadequate guidance results in duplicate intel production efforts." report says dod has contributed significantly to drug intel collection capabilities. however, no single organization is directing collection, analysis, and reporting of intel by both dod and law enforcement agencies. as directed by bush, the cia established the counternarcotics center to coordinate this activity. dod, has brought unique and increased intel to drug war. neither counternarcotics center nor dod has issued adequate guidance on two primary objectives - 1) collecting, analyzing and reporting info on major drug organizations and 2) detecting and monitoring individual drug shipments. cia's counternarcotics center has not and [does not] intend to issue [adequate] guidance. dod has not formalized guidance either. u.s. general accounting office nsaid-92-153 4/92 28 pages 92 gerald arenberg of u.s. national association of chiefs of police (nacp), claimed interpol had become a liability in tackling international drug trade because corrupt high-ranking police officers of member states, with access to interpol commo, pass this info to terrorists and drug traffickers. intelligence newsletter 10/22/92 3 92 in symposium in chicago, high-level military, intel and law enforcement officials met at u of illinois in chicago and gave arguments depicting unchecked growth in world of organized crime and terrorism... most being exported out of east europe and central asia to western europe and u.s. u.s. army intel report called for stepped up civil/military cooperation and development of low intensity conflict (lic) tactics. already army intel reserves mobilized and used in drug interdiction ops in southern u.s., particularly florida. dept of defense in drug wars with a new anti-drug group in combination with cia/nsa efforts against drug traffickers. harold orenstein, analyst with foreign military studies office, said former east european intel officers are joining organized gangs. intelligence newsletter 10/22/92 1,5 92 militarizing the drug war - u.s. issued a secret opinion that its military personnel can apprehend accused drug traffickers abroad, without host country consent. article by david isenberg. covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) fall 92 42-47 93-94 u.s. takes new path in narcotics battle - president clinton ordered the policy shift in 11/93, issuing a prepresidential decision directive. adm moving away from using military assets and using crop substitution and local police training. doubts that new (old) policy will work. washington post 1/12/94 a1,8 93-95 per cia intel, opium production has quadrupled since early 1980s. in 1993 it hit a record of 3,671 metric tons. ap 6/28/95 93 dea chief bonner quits after 3 years. washington times 8/4/93 a4 93 months after it opened $50 million national drug center (ndic) is isolated at its location in johnston, pa. center managed by fbi. it attracting ridicule. intelligence newsletter 11/25/93 4 93 outgoing dea chief bonner accused clinton adm of backsliding on drug war. washington post 10/31/93 a15 93 u.s. considers shift in drug war - military interdiction called a failure. washington post 9/16/93 a1,14 93 u.s. high-tech anti-drug shopping list: transportable observation platform (top) night vision system being tested by border patrol; non-intrusive cargo inspection systems such as full-size truck cargo x-ray machines; acoustic sensor technology to improve eavesdropping and surveillance ops; remote controlled audio and video recording technology to allow long-term, free-standing eavesdropping and surveillance; less-than-lethal weapons technology; home detection and monitoring for suspects under house arrest; quick automated dna fingerprinting technology for rapid criminal checks. intelligence newsletter 11/25/93 2 93 "drug control: reauthorization of the office of national drug control policy." gao/ggd-93-144 and gao/t-ggd-94-7 94 air force's long-range over-the-horizon backscatter (thh-b) radar in bangor, maine being converted to anti-drug use. intelligence newsletter 8/25/94 2 94 article "the new opium wars," names various individuals: ayub afridi of pakistan; haji baig of pakistan; khan khattak in jail in pakistan; quetta alliance; khun sa of shan state in burma/thailand; chao nyi-lai and wei hsueh-kang, former khun sa ally. details u.s. news & world report 10/10/94 40-41 94 book, washed in gold: story behind the biggest money-laundering investigation in u.s. history, by ann woolner reviewed by joe gores. book is complicated and documented account of our gvt's attempts to shut down money-laundering op. all corrupted by money or power. smuggler is coerced into becoming dea informant and snitch on medellin cartel. he becomes informant, never lies, never deals dopes, etc. dea constantly tailing him, giving him lie detector tests, etc. dea's atlanta office sets up own laundry, washing millions for medellin and using commissions to finance drug busts and gets in turf war with fbi and irs, justice, immigration and other dea groups. washington post 10/10/94 b2 94 dea cuts de facto "legalize" marijuana. intelligence newsletter 5/5/94 94 fake dea bank stings cali cartel. dea convinced cali cartel it an offshore bank willing to launder money. it laundered $52 million in op dinero. other dea op - foxhunt. washington post 12/17/94 a1,9 94 justice and treasury departments to end turf wars have agreed to give 1,100 u.s. customs service agents extended authority to conduct international drug smuggling investigations. now customs with strict reporting requirements with dea, can conduct in-country investigations arising out of border and ports-of-entry enforcement. washington post 8/11/94 a29 94 new clinton adm policy expected to lead to creation of a new centralized counternarcotic intel center and a unified command for deploying pm and special forces. already a resource task force on committee on narcotics intelligence issues (cnit). intel community must do a better job. cia's current narcotics center has only one person from dia and 200 from cia. dea's counterdrug joint intel center a little under 200. additional task forces in u.s. and pentagon's southern command in panama. resources do not include dea, coast guard, customs service and other agencies. lack of cooperation applies also to el paso intel center (epic) and newly established national drug intel center (ndic). adm new counternarcotic net will bring together under one roof intel and ops of cia, dea, treasury, and pentagon. intelligence newsletter 922/94 1,5 94 new report of national drug institute of drug abuse described the new national drug intel center located in johnston, pa. it has 3 divisions: administration, technical support, and ops. the heart is the ops div with 4 branches: strategic intel, organizational intel, document exploitation and collection. intelligence newsletter 2/24/94 4 94 new top personnel appointed in dea. names given. intelligence newsletter 9/8/94 4 94 u.s. shifting drug battle to block cocaine at source. 13.2 billion drug policy announced in feb 94 acknowledges the generally ineffective radar patrols. overall enforcement not being cut but will focus more on u.s. border and sources of cocaine especially peru, bolivia and columbia. plan to trim interdiction budget and to beef up aid and intel to latin american gvts to find drugs before they shipped. washington times 2/28/94 a5 94 u.s. should not resume tracking drug flights in colombia and peru unless the two countries promise they will not use it to shoot down civilian aircraft suspected of trafficking. washington post 7/15/94 a12 95-96 from dci deutch's "worldwide threat assessment to the ssci" on 2/22/96. enough coca leaf was grown to produce nearly 800 metric tons of cocaine. despite the disruptions caused by the arrests and surrender last summer of seven of its eight top leaders, the infrastructure and ops continue. illicit worldwide opium production exceeded 4,000 metric tons in 1995, enough to produce nearly 400 metric tons of heroin. burma is source of most heroin available in us, but opium production in afghanistan has skyrocketed since 1990 and colombia has surpassed mexico as largest producer of opium in western hemisphere. states of former soviet union are becoming a major conduit for heroin. the intel community also developed an aerial imagery reconnaissance tracking and plotting system to help better manage aerial reconnaissance collection against drug traffickers. iwr 2/24/96 95 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement policy and support, brian sheridan brings to his job both experience in intelligence having worked with the cia (1985-1989) and in private sector in international consulting. appointed to his current position in may 1993, sheridan has five well-defined priorities: demand-reduction, domestic law enforcement support, aerial detection and monitoring, foreign law enforcement support, and intelligence collection and analysis. he has also clearly defined his technological priorities: a rother (relocatable over-the-horizon radar) in puerto rico, and non-intrusive cargo inspection devices. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 3/13/95 16 95 cia discovered a transshipment company was being used by rodriguez orejuela and worked with dea and police to intercept 5.5 tons of cocaine. per agency, cia is involved in more than a dozen similar ops a year. ap 6/28/95 95 cia's crime and narcotics center (cnc) and the community open source program office (cospo) are sponsoring a conference for federal level gvt employees only, on osint and how it applies to international organized crime and counter narcotics law enforcement. conference will be held on september 6-7th. oss notices 8/31/95 1 95 samuel h. banks, assistant commissioner of u.s. customs, head of office of field ops, recommended better info and intel-gathering along u.s.-mexican border. his recommendation for more intel collection means customs wants to get out of its "passive drug interception" role and into "proactive" anti-drug ops, a field already crowded with pentagon, cia, dea and fbi all trying to justify portions of their budget by proactive anti-drug ops. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 10/9/95 11 95 the drug enforcement agency (dea) and its predecessor agencies operated overseas for past 68 years. dea mandated by president and congress to operate overseas with foreign law enforcement agencies. dea works closely with host-nation officials in open bilateral relationships by providing law enforcement training and investigative assistance. these are not covert actions. letter by paul v. daly, asst administrator for dea. washington post 5/1/95 a18 96 each "region" designated by joint task force - six (jtf-six), based at biggs army airfield, ft. bliss, tx, has several field grade officers assigned to regional federal law enforcement agencies hqs whose mission is to collect and transmit law enforcement intel to jtf-six and operation alliance. state law enforcement agencies (lea's) also have active duty military liaison officers assigned to them. for the most part, these liaison officers are mi types, or their secondary career field is mi. liaison officers are responsible for relaying to active duty units assigned to jtf-six either as rapid support units (rsu) or conducting unresourced jtf-six (mexican border) or northstar (canadian border) missions, info pertaining to ongoing federal, state or local lea investigations. info is then acted upon by the military units involved with the aim of producing finished intel for agencies in question. frequently the drug "nexus" is conspicuously absent, or simply invented to sucker-in military involvement. waco is a case in point. active duty intel analysts, systems operators, and humint specialists (ci types) are routinely assigned to operation alliance satellite activities to process raw info on civilian activities into finished intel intended to be used by active duty military units assigned jtf-six missions. military intel liaison officers attached to lea's approach their duties with an unhealthy enthusiasm. in many instances, in order to curry favor with their assigned lea, military officers will pressure active duty units assigned to jtf-six, to perform missions on behalf of the lea's they are supporting that are best described as "dicey." active duty mi is intimately involved in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of civilian intel to active duty counter-drug operations. melsmith vnet.net 6/26/96 96 gen. barry mccaffrey joins the war on drugs as director of national drug control policy. u.s. news & world report 2/12/96 14 96 new drug council. following the recent publication of clinton's annual "drug trafficking blacklist" which includes 31 countries, all of which were on last year's list except new arrivals belize and cambodia, cinton set up a cabinet-level council on counter- narcotics which includes almost everyone in the cabinet. given its size and the workload of its 16 members, the council will have difficulty reaching its objective of advising and assisting the president and ensuring coordination among departments and agencies. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 4/1/96 49 96 president clinton established a council on counter-narcotics. new cabinet-level council will be chaired by clinton. members are: dci deutch; vice president; secretary of state; secretary of treasury; secretary of defense; attorney general; secretary of transportation; representative of us to the un; director of omb; chief of staff to president; director of national drug control policy; assistant to president for national security affairs; counsel to president; chairman, jcs; and national security advisor for the vice president. council's purpose is to help in providing direction and oversight for national drug control strategy. it is also to ensure coordination among departments and agencies. iwr 3/17/96 a central texas savings and loan that had ties to associates of reputed organized crime figures lent 3 million to a miami banker with connections to cia. peoples savings and loan in llano lent 3 million ray corona who convicted of serving as front for major latin american drug smuggler. loan helped corona keep his miami bank, sunshine state bank, in business. houston post 2/18/90 a1, 24 a.g. thornburgh summoned to court to explain why gvt abandoned settlement involving a drug-laden plane leased to u.s. agents and the contras. pilot michael tolliver testified he flew arms to contras and illegal drugs back to u.s. washington post 3/21/90 a19 according to the author of "the big white lie," michael levine, war on drugs is biggest, whitest, and deadliest" lie ever perpetrated on u.s. citizens. as a 25-year agent for dea, levine worked deep-cover drug cases from bangkok to buenos aires... in big white lie, levine leads reader through the odyssey of over a decade of undercover work as he lived it - repeating verbatim conversations...levine tells how the beautiful south american "queen of cocaine" seduced cia into protecting her from prosecution as she sold drugs to americans; how pro-bolivian ruling party was overthrown, its members tortured and killed by cia-sponsored paramilitary terrorists; and how cia created "la corporacion," the general motors of cocaine which led directly to current cocaine/crack epidemic. big white lie book jacket cover afghanistan, 79-90 mujaheddin commanders inside afghanistan control huge fields opium poppies and reap harvest of as much as four million pounds opium a year. by 89 afghanistan and pakistan produced as much heroin as rest of world combined. weiner, t. (1990). blank check: the pentagon's black budget 151-152 afghanistan, 81-83 tribal groups we supporting increased cross-border sales opium. afghanistan opium crop, refined in pakistan, now dominates heroin market in eastern u.s. peterzell, j. (1984). reagan's secret wars 19 afghanistan. afghan rebels heroin ops. discussion of in counterspy 5/84 7 afghanistan. drug enforcement agency acknowledging rebels financing war in part with proceeds of opium. dea estimates 4 to 4 and half tons heroin smuggled into u.s. annually. counterspy 5/84 7 afghanistan, 82 sales of opium fund afghan afghan rebels. the dea said 52% of the heroin brought into the u.s. last year is believed to have come from the area of afghanistan, pakistan and iran. u.s. policy contradictory it wants to fight the drug traffic and to drive the ussr out of afghanistan. 250 to 300 tons opium were produced in afghanistan in 81 that quantity could be converted into 25 to 30 tons of heroin. processing done in pakistan. drug traffickers in u.s. import 4 to 4 1/2 tons of heroin a year. washington post 12/17/83 afghanistan, 86-90 a billion dollar trade in drugs, arms, and smuggled goods provided the material basis for the jihad. the progressive 5/90 27-30 afghanistan, 86 a dos report describes afghanistan and the bordering tribal areas of pakistan as "the world's leading source of illicit heroin exports to the us and europe. the sale of this opium plays an important part in the finances of the cia-backed afghan rebels. nyt 6/20/86 from intel parapolitics 9/86 p7 afghanistan, 89 adm dickering over how best to arm the mujahedeen. areas controlled by them include some of the most fertile centers of opium production. dos report circa 3/89 said afghanistan produced 700 to 800 metric tons of opium 88, most from territory held by rebels. rep bill mccollum hit cia over handling of mujahedeen and working thru pakistan's intel service. the nation 10/16/89 412 afghanistan, 89 the fight for control of prime poppy-growing areas near pakistan has undercut mujahedin efforts to topple the afghan gvt according to dos officials. newsweek 9/18/89 4 afghanistan, 92 per state dept big opium crop goes beyond 300 to 400 tons - 500 tons probable. intelligence newsletter 5/28/92 7 afghanistan, iran, pakistan. (golden crescent) accounts for 75% all heroin in u.s.in 83 4.5 tons heroin came to u.s from golden crescent. covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) summer 87 11 afghanistan, pakistan, 80-90 17 dea agents assigned to u.s. embassy in islamabad. dea reports identified 40 significant narcotics syndicates in pakistan. despite high quality dea intel, not a major syndicate investigated by pakistani police in a decade. hekmatyar himself controlled six heroin refineries. without fear of arrest heroin dealers began exporting product to europe an america, capturing more than 50% of both markets. when pakistani police picked up hamid hasnain, v.p. of gvt's habib bank, they found in his briefcase the personal records of president zia. phc 455 blatant official corruption continued until gen zia's death in an air crash. typical of misinfo that blocked any u.s. action against pakistan's heroin trade, the state dept's semi-annual narcotics review in september called gen zia a strong supporter of anti-narcotics activities in pakistan. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 456 afghanistan, pakistan, 80-90 pakistan gvt officials involved in drugs, mujaheddin manufacturing heroin, exporting it to europe and u.s. using money to support guerrillas. z magazine 1/91 71 afghanistan, pakistan, 85-90 u.s. gvt avoids investigating drug trade run by afghan resistance movement. gvt has info re heroin deals gulbuddin hekmatjar, leader of mujaheddin but takes no action. barnett rubin of yale university based on washington post story: "people attempting research this connection receive hardly any support. our relationship with pakistani military is centerpiece our strategic presence in southern asia and even in the persian gulf." article outlines movement of weapons and drugs via pakistani isi and the national logistic cell (nlc) entirely owned by pakistani army. top secret s/a-90 17-18 afghanistan, pakistan, 89 as foreign aid declined in 89, afghan leaders expanded opium production to sustain guerrilla armies. a scramble among rival mujaheddin leaders occurred. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 458 afghanistan, pakistan, 90 see article "u.s. declines to probe afghan drug trade, rebels, pakistani officers implicated." washington post 5/13/90 a1,29 aid official in 72 reported "even though the cia was in fact, facilitating movement of opiates to u.s. they hid behind shield of secrecy and said it done in the interest of national security." national reporter s 86 43 alberto sicilia falcon: miami cuban allegedly trained as a u.s. government agent, who in 1972 emerged as a trafficker of drugs through mexico. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 alder berriman ("barry") seal: convicted drug smuggler who took photographs allegedly showing sandinista official federico vaughan and colombian kingpin pablo escobar loading cocaine onto seal's plane. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 alfred mccoy's book, the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug trade - review despite some reservations says book is a severe indictment of u.s. drug policy. the nation 12/30/91 852 americas, 93 nsc and ag reno and some members congress feel paramilitary war against drugs total waste of money. state, dod, coast guard and customs opposed to nsc's planned reorientation. pentagon had commissioned study, "u.s. army counterdrug support: front end analysis, final report," by mitre corp to provide cost-effective allocation of army resources in effort. intelligence newsletter 10/14/93 5 an exchange of letters offering differing views re alfred w. mccoy's book, the politics of heroin. comments by mccoy, peter dale scott, dave fratello of the drug policy foundation and michael massing [who had written a nation article somewhat critical of the book]. the nation 2/17/92 182, 212 an open letter to members of congress re the link between u.s./cia/policy and drug smugglers in laos, cambodia, vietnam, thailand, afghanistan, pakistan, panama, costa rica, honduras and guatemala. unclassified 11/91 10-11 aristides sanchez: contra leader whose relatives supplied cocaine in san francisco frogman case. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 article "noriega crony admits laundering role." gonzalo mora jr. pleaded guilty to $32 million money-laundering scheme. another defendant in case, amjad awan, former official of bcci. washington times 1/18/90 a3 australia, book called "cochin connection" by australian couple brian and alison milgate questions links between asis and drug trade. a dea official, jerry moore, urged brian milgate to be careful [in testifying] since a number of characters in drug org checked directly back to intel community - the cia as well as another foreign gvt. if cia business threatened, he told brian, their wrath would be deadlier than what might be expected from the mafia. toohey, b., & pinwill, w. (1990). oyster: the story of the australian secret intelligence service 254 bahamas, 87 athanasios "tommy" maillis gave testimony in 1987 which implicated bahamian prime minister pindling to a large drug trafficking ring. maillis, who claimed cia trained him, said he obtained three photos showing pindling with drug trafficker lehder. after showing them to dia he handed them over to cia - never to be seen again. in his first cia op, maillis penetrated bahamian banking system to report on financial transactions. eddy, p. (1988). the cocaine wars 117,150-155 besides his deputy. first slot howard p. hart asked for when he took over couternarcotics center in ddo was a lawyer. kessler, r. (1992). inside the cia 251 bndd: bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs, which in 1973 became drug enforcement administration (dea). scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 259 bolivia. luis garcia meza: bolivian general who came to power through 1980 cocaine coup; cal conference participant same year. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 bolivia. roberto suarz gomez: bolivian cocaine trafficker until arrested 88 after falling out with colombian cartels. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 bolivia, 78-80 dea agent michael levine as part of a sting op, paid $9 million to jose roberto gasser, of a rich and powerful bolivian family - a family linked to world anti communist league and cia. he was arrested after leaving bank with alfredo gutierrez, a man in dea files as one of biggest drug dealers in world. soon u.s. attorney general (now prosecuting noriega), michael sullivan, released gasser and within months gutierrez is released. then gasser, roberto suarez, and gasser's father erwin gasser meet with bolivian military and begin to foment a (cocaine) coup, the 80 bolivian revolution in which drug dealers took over country. during coup people who helped dea in sting were either exiled, killed or tortured. levine learned that cia was a supporter of this revolution and that was why gasser was released. z magazine mag 1/92 27-30 bolivia, 88-91 see article "what war on drugs? troops, not talks in bolivia." the progressive 7/91 27-29 bolivia, 90-91 president jaime paz zamora signed an agreement with u.s. permitting participation of bolivia's armed forces in anti-cocaine efforts. nacla (magazine re latin america) 7/91 33 bolivia, 91 gis' drug-war training of bolivian army draws fire. washington post 4/23/91 a10 bolivia, nicaragua, 88 roberto suarez levy, son of bolivia's cocaine king roberto suarez, stated in 1988 that a cocaine factory in huanchaca was used to finance nicaraguan contras and was under control of u.s. dea. intelligence newsletter 11/16/91 6 bolivia, peru, and colombia, 89 bush adm new anti-drug campaign designed to bolster ci efforts. will provide $261 million in mostly military and law enforcement aid. u.s. military personnel, including special forces will train and support local forces fighting the traffickers. washington post 10/19/89 a24 brazil, ecuador, venezuela, 92 extent of drug activities in those countries unknown due to a lack of info. levels not believed significant compared with those of colombia, bolivia and peru. countries have limited countering programs and receive limited u.s. support. u.s. general accounting office nsiad-92-226 1 burma, 51 after delivering arms to kmt in burma, an unknown number cat pilots loading kmt opium for return flight to bangkok. one of these, jack killam, was murdered in 51 after an opium deal went wrong and was buried in an unmarked grave by cia agent sherman joost. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 178 burma, 67-90 story of khun sa. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 363-382 burma, 89 article in newsweek "burma's money tree: the drug lord uses opium to underwrite antigvt warfare." newsweek 5/15/89 42-3 burma, 90 "as burmese opium production rises, u.s. debates resuming anti-drug aid." washington post 11/5/90 a17,18 burma, 92-93 dea agent richard horn, now stationed new orleans accused state and cia officials in burma of trying to thwart and undermine the dea's mission in burma. he charges that franklin "pancho" huddle, jr of state and a cia agent, had his phone tapped and had him removed from burma. suit asks damages. washington times 10/28/94 a12 burma, 93-94 dea agent richard horn claims cia and state department forced him out of burma to play down drug interests over other diplomatic interests. time 11/7/94 50 burma, 94 thousands followers of warlord khun sa face starvation and preparing to flee his base at ho mong. thais sealed (sic) their border under pressure from u.s. washington times 10/8/94 a10 burma, 96 burma refuses to extradite opium warlord, khun sa, who surrendered. washington times 2/10/96 a9 burma, china, laos, 61-65 after kmt troops chased out of burma into northwest laos those that not resettled to taiwan (2,000 to 3,000) kmt regulars were left behind in laos. cia hired them to strengthen rightist position. per w. young these troops placed under nominal command of gen phoumi nosavan and became bataillon speciale 111. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 349 burma, laos, thailand, vietnam, 50-90 american impact on region's drug trade wether cover complicity or active suppression, relied on relations with local allies. since cia covert ops demand alliances with powerful warlords or tribal leaders who necessarily deal in drugs, agency has repeatedly enmeshed its covert ops with region's opium trade. by investing leaders with the authority of its alliance, cia provides protection that a drug lord can use to expand his share of traffic. thru alliance he gains access to international transport or commercial contacts that facilitate movement and marketing of drugs. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 385 burma, taiwan. within kmt's fractious intel establishment authority over golden triangle under the intel bureau of ministry national defense (ibmnd). this primary opium producing area. by late 70s, drug trade a standard feature of kmt intel. kmt along with china lobby, wacl put out torrent of propaganda asserting china exported huge quantities opium. kaplan, d. (1992). fires of the dragon: politics, murder, and the kuomintang 229,232 burma, thailand, 68-90 khun sa, armed by the cia, trained by the kmt, and protected by the burmese and thai gvts, khun sa has drawn strength from the complicity of powerful states and their intel agencies. if khun sa were to fall, the same forces that empowered him would soon create another opium warlord in his place. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 435 burma, thailand, 83 see article "battle of the warlords; at stake: the golden triangle's $800 million opium trade." details of khun sa and his drug ops. time 1/17/83 32 burma, thailand, 91 "burma, thailand battling opium warlord." khun sa is on defensive against attacks by thai military and wa ethnic group. washington times 4/15 91 a10 burma, thailand, china, 51 in an interview with u.s. ambassador rankin, chinat gen li mi gave a pessimistic account of his [cia-sponsored] ops and showed pressures were leading him into drug trade. during his first invasion of china from 6 june to 15 july 51 his troops rcvd 5 cat airlifts inside yunnan totaling 875 rifles with 40 rounds each and 2000 carbines with 50 rounds. he lost 800 men in pla counterattack. he withdrew with some 30,000 to 40,000 able-bodied men. at suggestion of 2 american officers with his forces in burma he traveled to bangkok for a conference. americans unhappy he had withdrawn. li mi had 4 contacts with gen frank merrill a wartime leader. he instructed li mi to try to bring karens closer to burmese gvt. later merrill stopped contact and money from this channel. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 171-2 canada, 95 new drug route to u.s. increased coastal anti-drug measures in the u.s. and comparatively lenient canadian drug penalties have resulted in british columbia, and vancouver in particular, becoming a major north american entry point for golden triangle heroin. once in british columbia, a trek south into idaho, montana or north dakota seems to offer little difficulty. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 2/13/95 35 central america. 85-87 dos used 4 companies owned and operated by narcotics traffickers to supply humanitarian assistance to the contras. companies were: setco air, a company established by honduran drug trafficker ballesteros; diacsa, a miami-based air company; frigorificos de puntaremas; and vortex, an air service used by michael palmer. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88 p43-48 central america. book by peter dale scott and jonathan marshall, "cocaine politics: drugs, armies and the cia." c. hitchens says this one of most enlightening books of year. article also talks about john hull and costa rica asking for his extradiction. he charged with murder and drug smuggling. the nation 8/19/91 184 central america. francisco "paco" chanes was a partner in miami company called ocean hunter seafood. terrell, j., and martz, r. (1992). disposable patriot 246 central america, 87-90 witness says drug lord told of contra arms. (miguel angel felix gallardo was supplying weapons to contras to keep u.s. pressure off his drug smuggling operation). los angeles times * 7/7/90 a1 central america, 81-96 dci deutch said he found no evidence of wrongdoing but has ordered the inspector general to investigate allegations cia was involved in drug trafficking to support nicaraguan contras. drugs sold to street gangs in los angeles. washington post 9/7/96 central america, 82-96 norwin meneses, danilo blandon and freeway rick ross made fortunes creating the first mass market in america for crack cocaine. rick ross visited crack upon black neighborhoods in los angeles and cities as far east as cincinnati. 8/23/96 freeway rick may be sent to prison without parole. the two men who turned in rick ross, for at least five years, supplied him with colombian cocaine. in june 79, after the victory of sandinistas, oscar danilo blandon reyes age 29 fled to california. today, danilo blandon is a well-paid and trusted operative for dea for latin america. in march, he was dea's star witness at a drug trial in san diego. blandon with donald barrios. blandon then met, juan norwin meneses cantarero and they flew to honduras and met col. enrique bermudez. blandon and meneses started raising money for the contras. norwin meneses, was then under active investigation by dea and the fbi. norwin meneses came to the u.s. in july 1979 as a political refugee. he settled in the san francisco bay area, and for the next six years supervised the importation of thousands of kilos of cocaine into california. meneses cantanero's involvement. ricky donnell ross. ross and newell steadily built up clientele. eventually, corrales introduced ross and newell to his supplier, danilo blandon. within a year, ross' drug op grew to dominate inner-city los angeles. nicaraguan cocaine dealer jacinto torres, another former supplier of ross and a sometime-partner of blandon, told drug agents in 92 interview that blandon's cocaine business dramatically increased. ... norwin meneses, blandon's supplier as of 1983 and 1984, routinely flew quantities of 200 to 400 kilograms from miami to the west coast. norwin meneses, or the cia, or the salvadoran air force planes that allegedly flew cocaine into an air base in texas. san jose mercury 8/19/96 central america, 84-87 instances in which law enforcement and criminal prosecutions subordinated to other foreign policy concerns listed. the barry adler seal episode. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88 120-1 central america, 85-86 convicted drug smuggler gary betzner, a pilot, and george morales, a colombian emigre under charges of drug smuggling, both claim that cia agents and other u.s. officials helped the contras run drugs-out guns-in op. the dea and cia helped them. newsweek 1/26/87 26 central america, 85-87 a money launderer for the major colombian cocaine cartel testified before congress that he funneled nearly $10 million to nicaraguan contras thru former cia operative felix rodriguez. ramon milian-rodriguez who serving time in prison said the cartel thought it was currying favor with the cia. washington post 6/30/87 a4 central america, 85-87 chief cia's c.a. task force testified links between contras in costa rica and narcotics trafficking broader then earlier estimated.... it is not a couple of people it is a lot of people....we knew that everyone around pastora was involved in cocaine.... his staff and friends (redacted) they were drug smugglers or involved in drug smuggling. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88, p37-8 central america, 85-87 contra ops in (costa rica) were funded by drug operations. pilots unloaded weapons, refueled and headed north toward the u.s. with drugs. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88 p41-2 central america, 85-89 senator kerry said stopping drug traffic in u.s. sacrificed for political and institutional goals such as changing gvt in nicaragua, supporting gvt in panama, using drug-running orgs as intel assets, etc. covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) summer 90 6 central america, 85 in personal diaries north kept in 85, he wrote down aide's tip that drugs being brought into u.s. on a contra supply plane. he recorded type of aircraft and a stop enroute - new orleans. in testimony he said he gave info to dea but dea says it has no such evidence. north declined an interview on subject. numerous officials said north never mentioned shipments. plane and crew continued be used as official carriers. north relied on robert owen, who traveled to central america. nhao hired owen who secretly worked for north. north wrote in diary on 8/9/85: "honduran dc-6 which is being used for runs out of new orleans is probably being used for drug runs into u.s." next day he wrote "meeting with a.c. - name of dea person in new orleans re bust on mario dc-6." a.c. could be adolofo calero, brother of mario, who in charge of shipping and warehouse op in new orleans. mario regularly used a dc-6 based in honduras. jack lawn former head of dea denied north gave any info re those flights. special dea agent new orleans at time said they never received such info. mcfarlane did not know. nhao director duemling and 5 other nhao officials said north never told them. "on contrary" duemling said, "north wanted me to work with mario." details of regular nhao flights. only dc-4 listed in nhao records was miami-based vortex air international inc. one of whose key officers has long series of drug allegations. owen's memo of 2/26/86 reads: "no doubt you know the dc-4 foley got was used at one time to run drugs, and part of crew had criminal records." "nice group of guys the boys choose. the company is also one that mario has been involved with using in the past, only that had a quick name change. incompetence reigns." in owen's testimony, he identified foley as pat foley of summit aviation, which still operates in delaware and identified the boys as cia. north's notebooks show he aware they were still working for agency. vortex name appears twice, and one of its officers, who had numerous drug chargers - michael bernard palmer - appears twice. list of various charges against palmer. in 87 palmer was working for a gvt agency. customs records at miami say that "normal customs service procedures for incoming flights are expedited" at request of unnamed agency. in addition to vortex, senator's kerry's report listed diacsa as doing nhao work two foreign firms listed; setco air, a costa rican firm owned by alfredo caballero, and floyd carlton, who ran drug and money laundering op out of diacsa's miami offices. carlton pleaded guilty to cocaine conspiracy. washington post 10/22/94 a1,11 central america, 86-90 see article z mag "farmer john's homegrown connections. deals with costa rican case against john hull, et al. for drugs and assassination attempt against pastora. z magazine mag 4/90 94-98 central america, 92-93 article, "drug traffickers build a new central american route to u.s." washington post 3/28/93 a1,3 central america, 94 despite u.s. gvt interdiction efforts, central america continues to be primary transhipment point for cocaine to u.s. supply of drugs via c.a. virtually uninterrupted. drug traffickers have adjusted modes of ops to avoid u.s. air interdiction and increasingly use sea and land transportation - difficult modes to detect. c.a. nations have neither resources nor capability to challenge and are heavily dependent on u.s. gao/nsaid-94-233, 8/94 36 pages central america, 96 members of the congressional black caucus called for an investigation into cia connections to a san francisco bay area drug ring that helped touch off the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. a mercury news' three-part series "dark alliance," detailed how a drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the street gangs of south-central los angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a cia-run guerrilla army. series traced the crack cocaine explosion to two nicaraguan cocaine dealers, danilo blandon and norwin meneses, who were civilian leaders of the frente democratica nicaraguense (fdn), an anti-communist commando group formed and run by the cia during the 1980s. danilo blandon, a former nicaraguan gvt official, was conduit for thousands of kilos of cocaine that flowed to the los angeles street gangs between 1982 and 1986. blandon, who pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking charges in 1992 and went to work for dea as an informant, recently testified in federal court that he sold the cocaine in the city's black neighborhoods as a way to raise money for the guerrilla army. his biggest customer was a drug kingpin, rick "freeway" ross, who turned the drugs into crack. ross is now in jail, set up by blandon in a 1994 drug bust. deutch, said a 1988 cia study presented to intel committees concluded cia "neither participated in nor condoned drug trafficking by contra forces." san jose mercury news 9/13/96 central america, mexico, 92-93 "teamwork lacking on drug interdiction." there few seizures of drug shipments tracked by u.s. forces. u.s. role relegated to tracking flights, and relaying intel to local authorities. 107 suspect aircraft tracked by u.s. and mexican authorities in first 7 months of 92, there only 8 apprehensions. washington post 6/21/93 c12 china, 94 dea is planning to open an office in beijing. agence france presse * 12/8/94 christic institute claims 29 men in all including shackley, secord, hakim, clines, owen, etc., were supporting the contras when prohibited by law. some of these men have been associated with large-scale drug trafficking in cuba, sea and central america, for over 2 decades. christic institute special report 11/87 cia and drug traffic 47-90 discussed in interview with alfred mccoy. info similar to info in his book "the politics of heroin in sea." net result of post-war anti-commie policy was revival of organized crime operating initially under u.s. military gvt protection, ultimately under cia protection. the op in burma with kmt to invade china. kmt fled to n.e. burma and cia set up massive support op. cia became involved in factional politics in thailand and supported general phao who in opium business with kmt. opium traffic up to 1,000 tons by time cia's mercenaries driven out in 61. about 60% to 70% world's total illicit production. z magazine 1/91 69 cia involved in drug traffic at three levels: 1. coincidental complicity by allying with groups engaged in traffic; 2. support of traffic by covering up known traffickers and condoning their involvement; 3. active engagement in transport of opium and heroin. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 23 cia shedding its reluctance to aid in fight against drugs. new york times * 3/25/90 1n, 1l cia spokesman james greenleaf 3/90 announced cia abandoned its former reluctance and "narcotics is a new priority." intelligence newsletter 4/25t/90 4 colombian drug flow unabated. washington post 3/9/93 a14 colombia, 86-94 joe toft retired from dea after 7 years as chief u.s. drug agent in colombia. he calls colombia a "narco-democracy." washington times 10/19/94 a10 colombia, 89 stepped up american drug interdiction in colombia, including cia's counter narcotics center and dea's anti-drug operations, may lead to attacks on u.s. citizens/property by drug lords according to witnesses before senate governmental operations committee on 11 sep 89. dea informant barry seal was assassinated in 1987, the first such incident. intelligence newsletter 9/27/89 3 colombia, 93 article, "global mafia: the new global mafia poses the most serious criminal threat in history." a newsweek team spent several months writing article. around globe intel agencies are refocusing efforts from spies to criminals - roy godson a source (sic). cia is investigating whether organized crime groups could acquire nuclear weapons. death of pablo escobar in columbia via a raid by bloque de busqueda (search unit), an elite police commando force whose members screened by cia and dea, which helped train them. cia did not participate in raid but in bogota, a cia-run tactical analysis team fed intel to bloque. nsa diverted spy satellites into orbits over columbia and c-130 reconnaissance planes from southern command helped. escobar's phone tapped. recent meeting between cia and fbi lawyers broke up testily when they could not agree how to share crime intel. cia has penetrated cali cartel and a british mi6 operative helped crack a ring in london. fbi has conducted seminars for polish, czech and hungarians on methods of investigating economic crime. newsweek 12/13/93 17 colombia, 93 "the drug war: colombia is undertaking antidrug programs. but impact is uncertain." gao/nsaid-93-158 colombia, 94 dea started a phony bank to catch drug lords in op dinero. by mid december they had seized 9 tons of cocaine an d $52 million, made 88 arrests worldwide. bank established in anguilla an british dependency. dea relied on irs partners. phone and fax lines to phony caribbean bank routed to atlanta. toll-free numbers to banks in venezuela, colombia and mexico. u.s. news & world report 1/2/95 34 colombia, 95 cia has loaned technicians to colombia's search brigade. new york times 6/26/95 colombia, 95 colombia is the source of an estimated 80 percent of cocaine coming into the united states, is winning war against the cali drug cartel. "the cartel is being dismantled and is crumbling," said lee brown, director of the white house office of national drug control policy. colombian national police, aided in part by intel from u.s. agencies, have captured a number of previously untouchable leaders of cali cartel within past month. colombian police also are continuing operation "search blockade," an open attack on the cartel, and many drug leaders have been forced to give up their opulent lifestyles and go underground. dea has more than 50 field offices worldwide. upi 8/9/95 colombia, 95 dci deutch flew to cali on monday to observe a massive police and army manhunt for the cali cartel drug lord who escaped from prison last week. cali, capital of guerrilla-infested valle del cauca province and headquarters of the notorious drug cartel, is one of the focal points of the nationwide hunt for jose santacruz londono, the cartel kingpin who escaped in broad daylight from a maximum-security prison in bogota on thursday. deutch was to return to bogota for talks with president ernesto samper. visit comes four days after u.s.-colombia ties took a turn for the worse following the escape of santacruz, who is wanted on drug and murder charges in the us. the escape, prompted immediate demands by the state department and dea for the revival of a u.s.-colombian extradition treaty scrapped in 1991 after the late medellin cartel drug lord pablo escobar waged a campaign of assassinations and bombings against it. the u.s. embassy warned that washington could decertify colombia as a partner in the anti-drug fight when certification comes up for renewal in march. decertification would strip colombia of important economic aid and trade preferences. reuter 1/15/96, washington times 1/16/96 a9 colombia, nicaragua, 91 former drug cartel leader carlos lehder said cartel members paid around $10 million to contras. he did not specify when aid was given. lehder also said he contributed $500,000 to political party of bohamian prime minister lynden pindling. lehder's statements were made in nov 91 while serving as u.s. gov witness in its case against manuel noriega. lehder, who admitted he agreed to testify on behalf of gov with the hope of obtaining early release from his life sentence, reluctantly made the contra-drug statements under cross-examination from noriega's defense attorney. washington post 11/26/91 a1,8 colombia. carlos lehder: colombian drug trafficker, extradited to united states and convicted. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 colombia. george (jorge) morales: convicted colombian drug smuggler; testified to shipping arms to contras for drugs in return for alleged promises of official protection. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 261 colombia. gilberto rodriguez orejuela: kingpin of colombian cali cartel; arrested with jorge ochoa in spain in 1984 and extradited to colombia, where he was later freed. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 colombia. isaac kattan kassin: colombian money launderer for cali cartel. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 colombia. jorge luis ochoa vasquez: leader of medellin caertel, indicted in united states in 1984 and 1986; arrested in spain in 1984 and extradited to colombia, freed on $10,500 bail. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 261 colombia, 50-90 the situation in colombia, outlines various guerrilla groups and parties. nacla 4/90 "the people's war," 13-21; "the dirty war," 22-29; "the drug war," 30-38 colombia, 83 a plane with southern air transport markings was seen being used for a guns-for-drugs transfer at an airfield in barranquilla, colombia. justice dept investigating. washington post 1/20/87 a12 colombia, 84 op to capture drugs named op chemcom, perhaps dea's most successful undercover op ever. dea planted 2 barrels of there own among 76 barrels chemicals going colombia. two barrels were equipped with radio tracking devices and battery packs embedded in false bottom. military satellites followed the beeping barrels and dea passed coordinates to colombian police. dinges, j. (1990). our man in panama notes 322 colombia, 88 40 persons, including 9 senior officials of bcci, arrested 10/9/88 for part in money laundering net of medellin cocaine cartel. arrested were ian howard, dir of paris branch and nazir chinoy dir for europe and africa. sting organized by u.s. customs. more than 32 million supposedly recycled by bcci. intelligence newsletter 10/18/88 8 colombia, 88 federal sting exposes drug cartels' money-laundering methods. during 2-year federal sting "op c-chase" that climaxed 10/12/88 with indictment of more than 70 alleged drug traffickers and luxenberg-based bcci. customs commissioner william van raab, accused bcci of "prostituting" itself for money laundering. details of bcci's role. washington post 10/24/88 a1,4 colombia, 89-90 see article "colombia cracks up." nacla (magazine re latin america) 4/90 12 colombia, 92 150 arrested in 6-nation drug sting. money laundering disrupted, dea says. washington post 9/29/92 a3 colombia, 92 colombian officials said cia, with knowledge of colombian gvt, has stepped up participation in drug war. cia lending support in a series of raids against the cali cartel, which is believed to be involved in both cocaine and heroin trafficking. cia has increased its personnel over past two months to lend technological support in drug war - but cia agents did not participate in raids. washington post 1/18/92 a14 colombia, 92 pentagon 45-day anti-drug op, used land-based radar systems and airborne warning and control systems - awacs. also used navy ships, air force jet fighters and navy and customs service aircraft to monitor suspected flights. u.s. southern command ran op called "support sovereignty." op ended 1 june. washington post 6/26/92 a25,6 colombia, peru, 94 u.s. refusal to share intel in drug fight called absurd. chairmen of two house committees blasted clinton adm for continuing to reuse sharing info with colombia and peru that would enable them to shoot down suspect civilian aircraft. washington post 8/4/94 a12 congress passed $10 million for new national drug intel center to be located in pennsylvania. no one but rep. murtha seemed to want center. washington post 10/29/90 a13 costa rica. claims by carr and glibbery that much of activity around hull's ranch involved transshipment of cocaine to u.s. carr found dead in van nuys, california - police said he died of drug overdose. terrell, j., and martz, r. (1992). disposable patriot 319,344 costa rica. frigorificos de puntarenas: a shrimp company in costa rica allegedly created as a cover for laundering of drug money; it was involved in north's contra support operations and used by state department to deliver humanitarian contra aid. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 costa rica. john hull was cia's man in costa rica, but he dabbled in every illegal scheme from assassination to gunrunning. terrell, j., and martz, r. (1992). disposable patriot 241 costa rica. john hull: u.s. rancher in costa rica who backed contras in conjunction with local cia station and whose airfield received contra supply flights and allegedly drug shipments. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 costa rica. octaviano cesar: an aide to contra leader eden pastora; arranged for drug trafficker jorge morales to provide support for contras in costa rica. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 259 costa rica. sebastian "guachan" gonzalez": arde contra official who fled costa rica in 1984 after indictment for drug trafficking. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 costa rica, 84-87 despite widespread drug trafficking there not a single case against a drug trafficker which was made on the basis of a tip or report by an official of a u.s. intel agency. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88 122 costa rica, 84-90 according to senate report hull allowed ranch to be used as an arms-for-drugs swap meet. in jan 89 costa rican authorities arrested hull on charges of drug trafficking and neutrality violations. he jumped bail in august and fled to u.s. he also charged with homicide in 84 bombing aimed at eden pastora. washington post jack anderson 8/8/90 d13 costa rica, 85-87 five witnesses testified that hull who helped the cia supply the contras, had at least six airstrips, was involved in cocaine trafficking. drugs, law enforcement and foreign policy, report by senate committee on foreign relations, 12/88 53-54 costa rica, 87-89 john hull a cia-connected rancher was arrested in 1/89 for, inter alia, illegal drug trafficking per president arias. the nation 4/3/89 p440 costa rica, 89 lt. col. north, secord, poindexter, tambs and former cia station chief fernandez declared persona non grata because their activities led to the establishing of narcotics nets. the nation 12/18/89 742 costa rica, 89 lt. col. north, secord, poindexter, tambs and former cia station chief fernandez declared persona non grata because their activities led to the establishing of narcotics nets. the nation 12/18/89 742 costa rica, nicaragua, 80-91 in april 91 costa rica asked u.s. to extradite cia operative john hull to stand trial on homicide charges. hull was allegedly at center of north's illegal contra supply net. costa rican authorities accuse hull of allowing his ranch to be used as an arms-for-drugs swap meet. hull indicted in connection with bombing attempt against eden pastora in la penca, nicaragua. 5 died in bombing. washington post 5/26 91 d7 cuba, 76-87 guillermo tabraue, a bay of pigs vet, is charged with running a miami drug syndicate. tabraue also employed by cia at $1400 a week to give info about drug trafficking among bay of pig vets. tabraue's trial to begin 4/3/89. the nation 4/17/89 p512 cuba, 80-91 see article "cuba and cocaine": frontline fabrication. lies of our time 4/91 9-10 cuba, 91 defector in interior ministry says cuba involved in novel drug-smuggling technique. washington times 7/3/91 a10 cuba, panama, 91 a handwritten letter to manual noriega indicates that fidel castro had no role whatsoever in noriega's dealings with the medellin cartel. the letter, written by convicted marijuana smuggler steven kalish in 1984, contradicted the testimony of a u.s. govt witness, jose blandon, in the trial of manual noriega. the nation 10/07/91 dci webster said threats other than ussr will require aggressive u.s. intel efforts: terrorism, narcotics trafficking and regional conflicts. stakes in third world become higher as more nations possess increasingly sophisticated weapons. new york times 11/30/89 a18 dea versus cia operations in the "drug war." top secret 1-89 12-14 dea, 90 has drug data ctr in el paso, cia has one in langley, treasury had one in arlington. gvt has created drug or money laundering intel ctrs--secretive computerized ops. justice dept plans a national drug center (ndic) in d.c. and will spend more than $50 million next 3 year. cia's counter narcotics ctr will not pass much info to justice for fear of compromising sources and methods. dea's intel ctr (epic) primarily interested in tactical intel to aid specific investigations and does not draw strategic portraits. justice with staff of 30 and start up budget of $8 million to begin op in oct. should have budget of $46 million in 91. washington post 6/8/90 a21 doc released under foia (19 pages) re cia/justice department agreement regarding possible criminal activities arising out of cia activities. the need to protect sources and methods and the duty to enforce laws. included is a brief summary of 20 cases in which violations of criminal statutes were reported to doj between 54-75 a detailed review involved in the prosecution of putaporn khramkhruan, former cia employee. hopc 5/10/84 p112 from center for national security studies c-37 drugs, mexico, 84-90 pablo aleman diaz, head of mexican judicial police, temporarily stepped down re investigation of possible involvement in kidnapping to u.s. of dr humberto alvarez machain on 4/3/90. dr machain alleged be involved in 2/85 murder of dea agent camarena. publication "proceso" names 49 dea agents in mexico. intelligence newsletter 5/9/90 4 eduardo tascon moran: 1970s cali arms and drug trafficker with alleged links to torrijos family in panama. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 263 el salvador, 81-93 former dea station chief in salvador, celerino castillo, writing book on open involvement of contra supply op in drug trafficking thru ilopongo airfield. oliver north was directly involved. castillo says he can document his claims with photos. unclassified 1/94 3 england, 88 panam flight 103 supposedly downed by cia to protect drug pipeline? random lengths 11/15/89 p1,4 felipe ("morgan") vidal: miami cuban and alleged cia agent who took over small costa rica contra faction after drug indictment of sebastian gonzalez. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 263 floyd carlton: panamanian drug trafficker using diacsa as cover; after conviction he became major u.s. government witness in indictment of noriega. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 259 france, 47-50 cia joined forces with corsicans to break hold of communist party over city gvt and to break two dock strikes - that threatened efficientcy of marshall plan and 1st indochina war. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 25 france, 93 on 2/16/93 french businessman for third time in 4 months, was expelled from netherlands. michael bosio, is alleged victim of cia/dea drug op. intelligence newsletter 3/4/93 7 france, laos, 87 prince sopsaisana of laos to paris in april. one of his suitcases contained 60 kilos of high-grade laotian heroin worth $13.5 million in new york. french refused to accept his credentials and he recalled to vientiane in june. according to dea, sopsai's venture was financed by gen vang pao, and the heroin had been refined in lab at long tieng, cia's hqs for ops in n. laos. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 284-5 from about 48-91 cia involved in drug traffic at 3 levels: 1) coincidental complicity thru covert alliances with groups actively engaged in drugs; 2) support of traffic by covering up for drug lord allies; 3) active engagement in transport of opium and heroin. from burma's opium traffic in 50s and growth of golden triangle in sea in 60s and 70s u.s. role a catalyst. in 5/80 dr. david musto, angry. in late 77 he on carter's w.h. strategy council on drug abuse. next two years cia and other intel agencies denied council access to all classified info on drug traffic. cia lied about dollar role of drugs. dr. joyce lowinson another council member in nyt op-ed criticized policy. both musto and lowinson worried about drugs in afghanistan and pakistan. dea investigated surge of drugs from southern asia. drug traffic in u.s. in large part due to failure dea's interdiction and cia's covert ops. cia ops transformed southern asia to major supplier of world heroin. by 88 there an estimated 100 to 200 heroin refineries in kyber district alone. trucks from pakistani army's logistics with cia arms often returned loaded with heroin - protected with papers from pakistan's isi. dea said 40 significant narcotics syndicates in pakistan. annual earnings $8 to 10 billion. pro 7/91 20-26. info from alfred mccoy's adapted from book, politics of heroin: cia complicity in global drug trade, a revised edition to be pub in july 91 gao report: war on drugs - heroin price, purity, and quantities seized over past 10 years. u.s. general accounting office ggd-92-95fs gerard latchinian: international arms dealer, former business partner of felix rodriguez and mossad agent pesakh ben-or, convicted for his part in 1984 bueso rosa cocaine plot. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 germany, scotland. dea probing report pan am 103 terrorists exploited dea op "courier" to plant explosives. op allowed informants put suitcases on pan am flights without usual security checks. washington post 10/31/90 a12 golden triangle. "biic" (adi 16 rue des ecoles, 75005 paris 326.04.52). issue contains study of opium war in golden triangle and its relation to cia, a fourteen page dossier on intel and covert ops in southern africa and other articles including: "shadow deals in the golden triangle: cia connection," "south africa and cia against the mpla," and "cia - blunders and disagreements." parapolitics xi 82 p2-3 gonzalo rodriguez gacha: drug trafficker in medellin cartel; killed in 1990. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 262 haiti, 88-93 alexandra marks of christian science monitor wrote on anti-drug intel center established in haiti in 88 by dea but was effectively controlled by cia-created, financed and trained haitian national intel service (sin). dea believed sin was the u.s.-financed center for drug ops with cia protecting haitian officers in return for a continuing intel relationship. unclassified 1/94 3 haiti, 88-93 tim weiner of nyt said "cia formed haitian unit later tied to narcotics" - having created haitian intel service, cia failed to insure that several million dollars spent training and equipping service from 86 to 91 was actually used in war on drugs. unclassified 1/94 3-4 haiti, 90-94 dea chief miami, thomas cash, told story from informant of aristide's involvement in drug trade. info from uncorrobated source. the nation 10/31/94 482,96 haiti, 92 only weeks ago u.s. adamant in resolve to force return of ousted haitian president aristide to govern country. now he warned that he would have to negotiate his possible return with current haitian leadership. flip-flop due to a re-examining of aristide's brief tenure as president. one concern whether drug corruption, which flourished under previous regimes, also persisted under aristide. discusses roland seide. jack anderson washington post 7/16/92 c11 haiti, 93 haiti's largest trafficker of cocaine, fernando burgos martinez, operates freely per dea study. washington post 4/4/93 a41 holland, 92-93 dea sting catches two. intelligence newsletter 4/1/93 3 honduras. jose bueso rosa: honduran general convicted in drug-financed plot to assassinate president of honduras. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 259 honduras, 88 u.s. intel identified ten senior honduran military officers involved in drug trafficking. they included col. roberto nunez, chief of military intel, col. leonel riera lunatti, chief of police and col. leonel gutierrez, head of navy. additionally col. rigoberto regalado lara, former ambassador to peru, was arrested in miami for possession of 11 kilos of cocaine. intel parapolitics 7/88 8 honduras, colombia. pablo escobar gaviria: major colombian trafficker in medellin cartel fdn (frente democratio nicaraguense): leading contra faction in honduras. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 honduras, israel. during contra war honduran military intel officers on double salary from cia and colombian drug cartels, who saw advantage of using honduran airstrips for transiting cocaine under cover of war effort. israelis also trained honduran death squads. cockburn, a. & cockburn, l. (1991). dangerous liaison 225 honduras, juan ramon matta ballessteros: honduran drug trafficker with important drug connections in mexico, cali, and honduran army. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 261 in 71 nixon made cia chief drug intel agency. old cia hand lucien conein headed dea's special operations branch. he created deep-cover cia/dea narcotics op in miami, code-named buncin/deacon, and recruited a staff of 19 - anti-castro contract agents. documents released under foia to researcher john hill describe a gentlemen's agreement between cia and justice department to ask for dismissals rather than expose sources or techniques. convicted drug smuggler and bay of pigs vet carlos hernandez rumbaut, continued his trafficking activity through 1976. justice dumped agreement in 76, but conein had worked out a "crossover' arrangement whereby dea would claim that any cia asset busted for narcotics smuggling was on a deep-cover dea assignment. none of cia's cubans prosecuted for drug smuggling. 27 u.s. prosecutions of latin america drug cases and two other major cases had to be dropped because of cia's domestic involvement. hinckle, w. & turner, w. (1992). deadly secrets xxxvii in 72 bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs, predecessor to dea, was formulated in cooperation with cia for purpose of gathering strategic narcotics intel and would be used to neutralize suspected narcotics traffickers. project became known as "buncin" (bureau of narcotics covert intel network), but was soon renamed "deacon" (drug enforcement administration covert operations network) which proved far more effective in gathering info of an "internal security nature" within u.s. a former dea official noted that with exception of one cocaine seizure in 1974, no buncin/deacon intel ever made it to courtroom. cia destroyed evidence so as not to reveal sources. intel analyst in southeast asia noted "it was ironic that cia should be given responsibility of narcotics intel, particularly since they were supporting the prime movers." intelligence newsletter 6/21/89 1 in 83 the reagan adm said the national narcotics border interdiction system will draw on cia informers, army and navy helicopter surveillance and domestic crime-fighting agencies in hopes of intercepting drug smugglers. washington post 6/14/83 in 89 national security council drafted a directive to broaden war on drugs and to explicitly include assassination of foreign drug lords. cia's counter narcotics center provides analytical and operational support to anti-narcotic operations. according to rafael perl, an international narcotics specialist with congressional research service, eliminating four or five leaders could disrupt drug operations for as long as 18 months. intelligence newsletter 6/21/89 1 in 90 state dept office for drug control, international narcotics bureau (inm) was one of few anti-drug agencies that did not have anyone assigned to the cia's center for narcotics control. washington post 2/7/90 a 21 in an escalation in cia's drug work, dci webster created an antinarcotics unit that will "lend analytical and ops support" to fight drug traffickers. impetus for the center was to respond to complaints about the quality of intel the cia has provided the dea. dea officials complain there little intel of value from the cia. one dea agent assigned to the center as liaison. washington post 5/28/89 a12-3 in drug war, nearly every agency involved. u.s. general accounting office nsiad-92-104 4/92 39 iran, 79 bakhtiar, a rich iranian, according to him, was approached by the cia to use heroin resources of his family to finance the overthrow of khomeini. this in court. rebel 11/22/83 p83 israel, 90-92 fbi suspects israeli money laundering op is processing as much as $200 million a year through u.s. banks to be used in covert ops. ultra-orthodox jews in new york reported to have laundered money that israeli col yair klein and his company, spearhead ltd., earned training and arming hit squads of medellin cartel. kerry's senate report says part of klein's op - a 89 arms sale to cartel boss jose gonzalo rodriguez gacha by state-owned israel military industries was linked to bcci. report said bcci helped israeli maurice safati obtain u.s. gvt financing of a melon farm on antigua in 83 intelligence newsletter 11/5/92 6 israel, colombia, 87-90 4 federal agencies investigating arik afek, aka flower man, who killed in miami. israeli tv said cia gave afek a u.s. passport in exchange for info on israeli activity in colombia. israeli foreign affairs 2/90 1,8 israel, colombia, 89 colombia issued a warrant for arrest of lt.col. yair klein, who led an israeli team and trained paramilitary squads for medellin cocaine cartel. harari involved. ifa 10/89 1,5. israeli foreign affairs 9/89 1,2,4-8 israel, panama, 88-90 mike harari recruited israelis for noriega's personal bodyguard during 89. he had previously organized this force. this means he beefed up noriega's security after u.s. officials had begun extensive cia action against noriega and had repeatedly asked israel to recall harari. ifa 1/90 3, 4,5,8. mike harari is israel's man in panama where he has handled israeli arms sales and noreiga's personal security for a number of years. between 82-85 he ran harari net, a u.s.-israeli contra supply op that worked in cahoots with medellin cartel to transport cocaine from colombia to u.s. israeli foreign affairs 11/89 1,2 italy, 94 "onig" connection dismantled. over the last month italian and u.s. law enforcement services have dismantled an important international network of italian and colombian drug traffickers. latter had established their headquarters in manhattan at "famous original pizza ray's" through which 50 kilos of cocaine was processed every month. op involved specialized fbi teams and teams from palermo, reggio di alabra and rome of criminalpol. a hundred persons were arrested and 200 kilos of cocaine were seized. u.s. mafia doesn't seem to have been associated with network which was set up by colombians who furnished their sicilian and calabrian counterparts in cocaine, relying particularly upon macri' family for distribution in southern italy. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 251 251/7 jack terrell: former u.s. mercenary and contra supporter who was persecuted by north and osg after he began talking to dea and fbi about contra smuggling activities; later indicted on antineutrality charges that were eventually dropped. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 263 la weekly 10/13/88 beginning p18 re "the miami network." la weekly 10/6/88 beginning p18 re "cocaine and the white house." an article in "the miami connection" discusses the drug traffic and says four groups of players are prominent in the miami action: italian and jewish crime syndicates; cuban exile terrorist groups and the cia; latin american drugs dealers; and bankers. the nation 2/18/84 p186-198 asia, 88 larger share drugs entering east u.s. coming from southeast asia. burma still largest supplier. thai gvt accused lao gvt complicity in heroin traffic. most sea heroin goes via bangkok to u.s. west coast. washington post 3/16/88 a6 australia, 80 nugan hand bank which collapsed was used by cia to channel money to southeast asia and by australian heroin traffickers to finance their trade. a number of the bank's officers and consultants are former cia employees. a dozen or so persons connected with the bank have died or disappeared, according to report in london sunday times. first principles 11/80 p10 australia. see article "strange tales of nuggan hand drug clients," covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) summer 87 9 australia. "nugan hand bank and cia/drugs." mother jones sep/87 16-23 australia, proprietary. discussion of nugan hand bank 61-80 involvement with cia. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 36-40 barry seal a convicted drug smuggler was killed 2/19/86 in baton rouge. he had been used to tyr to tie nicaraguan gvt officials into drug traffic. mother jones 4/87 49-50 bay of pigs veterans drug ring profits used to supply contras according to christic institute. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 43 bay of pigs vets links 70-87 with organized crime and terrorists. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 42-6 involvement of former cia latin american operatives in drug smuggling. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 134-9 blowback. florida drug prosecutor said 86 "a great many of drug smugglers in miami today are bay of pigs vets. that's why they're so tough. they're intel trained. that's why we're having such a tough time". marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 135 bolivia, 89 "u.s., drugs and bolivia: the u.s. in bolivia, playing golf while the drugs flow." the nation 2/13/89 p188-92 burma, 50-59 cia activities burma (with kmt) helped transform shan states into largest opium-growing region in world. kmt shipped heroin to north thailand where sold to gen. phao sriyanonda of thai police, a cia client. mccoy, a.w. (1972). the politics of heroin in southeast asia 127 burma. cia involvement with kmter's who source of drug traffic. kwitny, j. (1984). endless enemies 331-4 burma/china, 50s cia contract aircraft used to transport opium from burma to bangkok in li mi op. corson, w.r. (1977). armies of ignorance 321-4 burma/china, 50s li mi's forces did little to china but became ensconced in drug trafficking. cia's aircraft carried guerrillas opium to market in bangkok. corson, w.r. (1977). armies of ignorance 321-3 burma/thailand. jack killam a contract us. gvt employee shot in head by unknown persons. buried by two cia operatives. may have been involved in drug traffic. corson, w.r. (1977). armies of ignorance 322-3 central america, 86 smuggler michael tolliver paid to fly arms to contras then allowed to return to u.s. with drugs. he would find his own return load or be supplied with a network run by oliver north. once landed plane with 25,000 lbs marijuana at homestead air base in fla. drug route protected by cia. the progressive 4/88 11 central america, circa 85-86 g.w. betzner testified before senator kerry's committee re his participation in drug smuggling. said he made 2 trips into costa rica and landed near ranch of john hull. betzner said hull watched as load of machine guns unloaded and replaced by cocaine. second flight near strip near voice of america near hull's ranch where guns unloaded and cocaine loaded. washington post 4/8/88 a1&15 central america, 85 contra collaborator and former panama official hugo spadafora blew whistle on coke dealing to dea agents 9/85. next day his headless body found inside mail bag in costa rica. in 85 costa rican authorities arrested contra commander sebastian gonzalez mendiola on charges of cocaine trafficking. national reporter summer 86 43 central america, 86 senator kerry said it clear there is networking of drug trafficking thru contras. "and it goes right up to [contra leaders] mario calero, adolfo calero [and] enrique bermudez." cia has actively blocked federal drug investigations of contra supporters. covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) summer 87 13, 15 central america, 85-86 article in nation by jonathan kwitny, "money, drugs and the contras." na 9/29/87 cover & p162 central america, 85-86 letters to the editor of the nation debate contents of kwitney's article "money, drugs and the contras." 9/19/87 central america, circa 84-87 info coming out of senator kerry's hearings re contras and the drug traffic. na 4/30/88 p589,593-4 central america, circa 85-86 officials of justice dept., state dept., and dea have told congressional committees during past 18 months that north sacrificed u.s. anti-drug efforts when he thought it would benefit the contras. arizona daily star 11/27/88 comment, see major article in common cause magazine 10/88 p23-33 central america, circa 86 joe fernandez, cos costa rica testified at closed session that on one occasion a "higher authority" in the agency ordered him to continue working with 2 contra leaders suspected of drug dealing. the nation 6/2787 p874 chairman of the house committee on narcotics abuse and control requested the dea, cia and customs service to brief his committee on contra drug links at a closed session. cia and justice dept, which oversees dea, refused. the nation 6/13/87 p787 chicago daily news reported cia forced justice department to drop an indictment against one of its (cia) agents involved in a plot to smuggle 100 pounds of raw opium into u.s. the nation 7/5/75 4 chile. "plan of mobilization and operations for the coup d'etat" code name plan z gien in white paper which said cubans had prepared plan. 2 cia officers helped prepare. white paper said allende gvt involved in drug traffic and terrorism. cited a list of weapons and ammo caches. tarasov, k., & zubenko, v. (1984). the cia in latin america 147-50 china. payments at small oss base 42-45 in kunming frequently made with opium. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 64 china, burma, taiwan. cat in op repat evacuated chinat troops from burma of the yunnan anti-communist national salvation army. invasions china unsuccessful and it clear kmt irregulars more interested in drug trade than fighting communists. leary, w.m. (1984). perilous missions 195 cia, 76 testimony dea agent indicates that cia aware of drug smuggling activities cia backed kuomintang armies of burma and laos. allegedly cia ordered some smuggling activity. counterspy winter 76 33 cia coordinates 69-75 clandestine intel collection overseas and provides other gvt agencies with foreign intel on drug traffic. rockefeller commission report. (1975). report on cia activities within the u.s. 36-7 cia never trafficked in drugs as matter of official policy, but willing overlook fact that meo's primary cash crop was opium, while cia planes of air america were on occasion used to carry drugs. marchetti, v., & marks, j.d. (1974). the cia and the cult of intelligence 215 cia reported role with nugan hand bank and drug running. counterspy 5/83 8-9 cia responsible beginning 69 for coordinating all clandestine intel re drugs. rockefeller commission report. (1975). report on cia activities within the u.s. 221-224 cia use of former nazi claus barbie and his role in drug traffic. counterspy 8/83 42 cia used lsd to discredit a target's character. marks, j. (1979). the search for the manchurian candidate 103 colombia, nicaragua, 84 drug dealer ochoa, kingpin of medellin cartel was capture. dea proposed a deal if ochoa would implicate sandinistas. he refused. cia, dea and bush's newly formed antidrug task force used barry seal to try to implicate sandinistas in drug traffic. seal testified he photoed sandinista soldiers and an official. seal a part of supply net supervised by cia and north. c-123 used by seal to implicate sandinistas later shot down with hasenfus. the nation 9/5/87 p189-192 contragate report does not discuss allegations of contra drug-running. ignored is cia's costa rican station chief joe fernandez's testimony that "a higher authority" overruled his decision to cut off two contra leaders he suspected of smuggling narcotics. the nation 12/5/87 p669 contragate, 86 money launderer for colombian cocaine cartel told senate subcommittee on terrorism, narcotics, and international communications that he passed nearly $10 million to contras thru felix rodriguez, former cia operative. the nation 12/5/87 contragate, 87 memo from committees investigating allegations of contra drug smuggling to iran-contra committee. says allegations unfounded, further investigation unwarranted. ica 630-2. kelso investigation discussed. iran-contra affair. (congress committees) 648 costa rica. during his testimony tony avirgan said that harry barrantes, a major of the costa rican rural guard in charge of an anti-terrorism group, had said that he had for months penetrated the fdn and drug trafficking operations centering around john hull. avirgan, t., & honey. m. (eds.). (1987). lapenca: on trial in costa rica 97 costa rica, 88-89 john hull the us rancher who aided the contras for the cia was arrested in costa rica and charged with drug smuggling. the nation 3/6/89 p296 cuba. case involving cuban exiles and drug traffic traced to phone number zodiac company, a cia front. investigation dropped. blum, w. (1986). the cia a forgotten history 214 cuba, bay of pigs vets. estimated that 61-75 at least 8% of bay of pigs vets had been arrested or convicted on drug crime charges. marshall, j., scott p.d., & hunter, j. (1987). the iran-contra connection 127 dci webster announced on 12/12/ 88 that the cia will assume a greater role in efforts to stop the flow of narcotics. this includes supporting interdiction op at mexico border. washington post 12/13/88 a3 dea dec 83 says afghanistan rebels are financing their battle at least partially thru sale opium, some of which comes to u.s. in form of heroin. david meloick, dea's congressional liaison said 52% of heroin brought into u.s. last year believed to have come from area of afghanistan, pakistan and iran. american interests afghanistan contradictory over fighting drug traffic and political goals. washington post 12/17/83 dea official in embassy in san jose, costa rica said the contras were part of the drugs-for-arms trade in latin america. dr. hugo spadafora fingered a contra drug smuggler from costa rica, said the smuggler fled to panama and was being protected by noriega. spadafora was beheaded. mother jones 4/87 p48-9 documents reveal that in 86 north, gen. paul gorman, cia man dewey clairridge, and elliot abrams lobbied justice dept to treat leniently honduras' gen. jose abdenego bueso rosa who was involved in plot to kill honduran president roberto suazo cordova. iran contra report does not mention name of conspirator nor central am leader. also, report does not mention that gen. rosa, former head of honduran armed forces joint command, was contra supporter and was to fund op thru cocaine smuggling into u.s. american officials feared rosa might talk about contra drug ops if justice dept did not go easy on him. the nation 12/5/87 p668 laos. beginning in 64 vang pao became drug lord of hmong. per ouane rattikone, commander of laotian army, and gen thao ma, then commander laotian air force, air america began flying hmong opium to markets in long tieng and vientiane. tony poe, a cia officer who worked with vang pao, said vang pao made millions in drug traffic. air logistics for opium trade further improved when cia and usaid gave vang pao financial assistance in forming his own air line, xieng khouang air transport. formed in late 67 with two c-47s acquired from air american and continental air services. company's schedule limited to shuttle flights between long tieng and vientiane. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 318 laos. chief of staff of laotian army, that rcvd 90% of its budget from the u.s. operated largest heroin factory in world in n.e. laos. traffic from there to a relative of vietnam's prime minister ky. whole svnese gvt dealing heroin to u.s. troops. number cia operatives became involved. nugen hand bank founded by michael john hand, a green beret and a cia contract in laos. reported to be dealing in heroin. bank a major money laundering conduit sea, australia, golden triangle. z magazine 1/91 70 laos. cia complicitous laotian drug trade at number levels. felt it had to support opium crop, because main hmong cash crop. cia used extensive air net of light propeller planes to move crop out of laos for hmong. opium taken to long tieng where vang pao operated a large heroin lab. gave vang pao private airline called zieng khouang air transport. z magazine 1/91 70 laos, 54-75 book by roger warner, back fire: the cia's secret war in laos and its link to the war in vietnam, (1995), reviewed by susan brownmiller. vang pao took his cut from the opium trade. he deserted to u.s. in 75, six months before the pathet laos triumph. warner agrees with alfred mccoy that cia's mission did not include a war on drugs, but he finds insufficient evidence that cia ran the trade. the nation 9/18/95 288-90 laos, 59-73 movie air america depicts airline as complicit in opium traffic. nyt and wsj op-ed pieces decried movies theme. extra 12/90 11 laos, 60-70 see article "opium and politics in laos," by david feingold, in adams, n. & mccoy, a. (eds.) (1970). laos 322-339 laos, 61-75 cia intervention in laos changed narcotics traffic. corsican charter airlines forced out of business in 65, then cia's airline, air america, began flying hmong opium out of hills to long tieng and vientiane. cia cross-border ops into china in 62 when shan rebels who organized forays began financing shan nationalist cause by selling burmese opium to another cia protege, laotian gen phoumi nosavan. prior to that time much heroin sent to bangkok. in late 60s air force bombing disrupted laotian opium production and forced hmong to become refugees. but laotian labs, major suppliers of g.i.'s in vietnam, simply increased imports of burmese heroin. cia analysis identified 21 opium refineries in tri-border area. 7 capable of producing near pure heroin located in border area of burma and thailand where paramilitary groups closely identified with cia ci and intel ops since 50s. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 288 laos, 65-70 cia gave vang pao two old c-47s and renamed them xieng khouang airline aka "air opium." warner, r. (1995). back fire 255 laos, 65-73 former cia officer tony po said on camera that the cia knew vang pao was making millions from opium and heroin trafficking. po gave precise info on routes by which vang pao moved his heroin from laos to vietnam, using planes that cia had given him, while maintaining full cia cooperation. in these times 9/25/90 17 laos, 66-70 air america pilots boasted to frank mcculloch of time-life bureau, that air america pilots flying opium out of laos. and shackley approved. he did not pursue lead. all in los knew hmong traded opium. doug blaufard former cos said "without doubt" air america planes carried opium. vang pao's hmong known to deal opium. ig investigation. details. corn, d. (1994). blond ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 148-51 laos, 71 the drug trade and laos. gibson, j.w. (1986). the perfect war 395 laos, 60-75 cia created secret army of 30,000 hmong tribesmen to battle communists. hmong's main cash crop opium, so cia allowed gen vang pao to use cia air america to collect opium from scattered villages. in late 69 cia's various clients opened a net of heroin labs in golden triangle. in first years they exported high-grade #4 heroin to u.s. troops in vietnam. after their withdrawal, golden triangle labs exported directly to u.s., capturing 1/3 of american market. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 19 laos, cambodia, 91 cia identified a shipment of drugs moving thru laotian military convoy to a cambodian port. drug shipment uncovered by cia's narcotics center, a new program that uses a vast array of satellites, electronic listening posts, and humint to monitor traffic. program also runs ops to disrupt traffic. intel source said center has achieved several "stunning successes" that remain secret. u.s. gvt working with laotian gvt to develop drug interdiction program. washington times 4/25/91 a11 laos, china, burma, 61-66 in early 60s, william young began sending lao and theung teams into china's yunnan province to collect intel. teams operated out of nam yu. team members tapped telegraph lines, watched roads, etc. used shan forces for security. cia used immense opium caravans as cover for trips to and from china. corn, d. (1994). blond ghost: ted shackley and the cia's crusades 143 laos, thailand, 62-72 cia worked with thai border police who assigned to run meo op from thailand. op run from udorn airbase. thai bpp served as radio operators, training cadre, and support troops for vang pao's men. thais operated under control of only 2 cia officers - who lived with vang pao - vint lawrence one and anthony poshepny. bio on both. they lived in mountain hut for nearly 2 years - this early after 62 geneva agreements. further details of vang pao, touby ly fong and drug traffic. grant, z. (1991). facing the phoenix 148-160 laos, vietnam, 56-62 nhu est two pipelines from laotian poppy fields to svn. major one was air laos commerciale, managed by corsican gangster francisci. nhu also used vnese air force transports. mccoy, a.w. (1991). the politics of heroin: cia complicity in the global drug traffic 203-4 laos, vietnam, mccoy's books on the politics of heroin, are amazing pieces of work. after having worked in the mountains of lao and talking extensively to many lao and hmong, i am pretty convinced that what mccoy documents is true. i cannot vouch for the vietnam side of things, but, cia -- like the french before them used opium production as the means of exerting influence on mountain groups in the region. email coord generation.net 2/9/96 latin america. rene corvo: miami cuban who arranged illegal arms shipment to contras; his 1988 indictment on antineutrality charges dropped. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 latin america, 73 in fall of 73, cia began intercepting calls between u.s. and latin america to identify narcotics traffickers. john s. warner, houston's deputy, pointed out this against the law, and cia stopped. kessler, r. (1992). inside the cia 238 latin america, 80-89 adler berriman seal, gunrunner, cia asset, gvt informant, narcotics trafficker, etc. let slip clues re u.s. how gvt went into business with drug smugglers, allowing tons of narcotics enter country as a necessary cost of geopolitical objectives; subordinated drug enforcement to overthrowing nicaragua's sandinistas; allowed two southern states to be used as major distribution points, then interfered with all attempts by local police and federal agents to eradicate the problem. penthouse july 89 39-40 latin america, 85-96 for the better part of a decade, a san francisco bay area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the crips and bloods street gangs of los angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a latin american guerrilla army named the fuerza democratica nicaraguense (nicaraguan democratic force) or fdn, the largest of several anti-communist groups run by the cia. drug network opened the first pipeline between colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of los angeles, a city now known as the crack capital of the world. former fdn leader and drug dealer oscar danilo blandon reyes testified during a recent cocaine trafficking trial in san diego. recently declassified reports, federal court testimony, undercover tapes, court records here and abroad and hundreds of hours of interviews over past 12 months leave no doubt that blandon was no ordinary drug dealer. san jose mercury news 8/18/96 latin america, 89-94 andean initiative is a $5.5 billion - 5-year drug interdiction and eradication operation in bolivia, colombia and peru. pentagon's 1992 budget for war on drugs was $1.08 billion, that in addition to andean initiative funding. program includes establishing radar facilities on south american coast and surveillance by usaf awacs and usn vessels. initiative differs from previous drug operations - u.s. special forces are training military forces, whereas before dea trained national police forces. program serves dual purpose - counterinsurgency (peru's sendero luminoso) and drug eradication. z magazine 11/90 84-88 latin america, 89 despite denials by the bush adm that u.s. forces have a direct role in the fight against south american cocaine cartels, army special ops forces boast they are on the front line in the war on drugs. the nation 12/11/89 704 latin america, 90 anti-drug effort turns to military. washington post 4/25/90 a31 latin america, 91-92 secret pentagon study paints a grim picture of a drug war stalemated by neglect, bureaucratic bungling and corruption. bush's much touted 89 andean initiative "only marginally impacted on [traffic]." peru is a quagmire of deceit and corruption, attainment of u.s. objectives impossible. medellin cartel is crippled though the flow of cocaine from colombian processing centers hasn't been slowed. micro-managing by congress and bureaucratic inertia have held up anti-drug aid to latin america. report advises against deeper pentagon involvement in war: "[avoid] short term, relatively ephemeral, military solutions." newsweek 1/27/92 4 latin america, 91 article, "the newest war: the pentagon's battle against latin america's drug lords is escalating. but it faces growing criticism - and could create problems for military." newsweek 1/6/91 18-23 latin america, 91 on 5/1/91 state dept awarded 5-year contract to dynacorp, an aviation service, to conduct air ops for war on drugs. to be used in drug raids, eradication campaigns and reconnaissance. dynacorp proposed 3-subcontractors including eagle aviation services and technology (east). east enlisted by secord as part of secret contra supply op. east's founder, richard gadd, chartered aircraft for pentagon and cia so that they could not be traced back to u.s. the nation 6/10/91 764 latin america, 92 panama-based u.s. southern command now has 35,000 troops at its disposal. gen george joulwan insists drugs are its highest priority. support structure provides support and assistance to host nation forces that includes a civic action component, ground-based radar systems, a high-tech commo system, special intel teams in regional embassies, and ongoing joint ops by u.s. and regional militaries. infrastructure serves as an integrated regional counterinsurgency effort and u.s. has increasingly focused on guerrillas in peru. details of sendero luminoso - shining path. covert action information bulletin (now covert action quarterly) fall 92 10-16, 60-62 latin america, 93 drug war: a quietly escalating failure - policymakers have an opportunity to reject punitive, wasteful and destabilizing policies. nacla (magazine re latin america) 5/93 29-34 latin america, colombia, 96 latin heroin replaces asian. 9/3/96, dea chief, thomas constantine, gave official figures on battle between asian and colombian heroin seized in the u.s.: 1993, 15 percent colombian; 1994, 32 percent colombian; and 1995, 62 percent colombian. colombian drug lords "are positioning themselves to be central players in the western hemisphere heroin market by the year 2000." this is coherent with their increasingly widely-applied strategy of paying middlemen and dealers in heroin to encourage use (see "new techniques on both sides of drug battle"; int, n. 38/2). intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 9/9/96 52 latin america, colombia, nicaragua, 90 dozens weapons given by u.s. to contras acquired by colombia drug dealers. now an alliance between colombian drug cartels and criminal orgs in italy and spain to provide and distribute cocaine in europe. contras appear to sell weapons in c.a. market. m67 fragmentation grenades and ussr made ak-47 assault rifles and rpg grenade launchers. contras when demobilized turned in only half of weapons. half of redeye portable antiaircraft missiles missing. washington post 9/18/90 a16 latin america, ecuador, italy, thailand, 95 intel assets in rome, mexico city, and thailand assisted in arrest of gloria canales in ecuador this month. ap 12/26/95 luis rodriguez: owner of frigorificos de puntarenas, indicted on drug charges that were later dropped. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 261 many hired during 50s have reached retirement age. cia reformulating mission. it seeking recruits to man its new emphasis on drugs, terrorism, human espionage and economic intel. also seeking computer operators and language specialists. boston globe 11/15/ 90 mexico challenges u.s. to prove marijuana production has soared. (challenge to cia report). los angeles times * 3/21/90 a5 mexico drug control: revised drug interdiction approach is needed in mexico. gao/nsaid-93-152 53 pages mexico. miguel angel felix gallardo: mexican trafficker suspected of shipping cocaine to u.s. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 260 mexico, 89-90 federal judge ruled doctor indicted in torture-murder of enrique "kiki" camarena was kidnapped illegally from mexico and must be returned. washington post 8/1/90 a3 mexico, 60-91 fighting drug war in mexico has preoccupied the u.s. since the 60s. drug control assistance has boosted technological capabilities of mexican security forces. aid used for all aspects - detection, eradication, intel and interdiction. resource center bulletin winter (12) 91 3-5 mexico, 77-89 dfs became greedy in 82 and began stealing cars in california and drug smugglers took them to mexico. dfs head nazar indicted in u.s. court over strenuous objections of cia and against orders of kennedy's superiors in justice dept. penthouse 12/89 168 mexico, 77-89 miguel nazar haro, former chief of mexican intel d.f.s, the equivalent of the kgb, was an agent of the cia, indicted for stealing hundreds of u.s. cars. u.s. gvt secretly arranged his release and escape back to mexico. nazar continues to act as a major intel asset. penthouse investigation revealed u.s. intel aligned itself with criminal drug activities by using nazar as the cia chief asset and cut-out in mexico and thruout latin america. penthouse 12/89 58-60 mexico, 77-89 u.s. looked the other way when nazar, head of dfs used his infallible (interrogation) techniques on behalf american agencies while he carried out hundreds, perhaps thousands of political executions of mexican leftists and political dissidents. dfs (federal security directorate) administering drug traffic. penthouse 12/89 60 mexico, 80-89 mexican drug trafficker "alex" interviewed by penthouse. alex said dfs and police, force drug smugglers to work for them. alex would inspect and resold all marijuana dfs seized. good quality smuggled into u..s the rest destroyed frequently as a p.r. exercise. dfs took 25% of profits. drug smugglers include miguel angel felix gallardo and rafael caro quintero. penthouse 12/89 162,168 mexico, 81-90 defense lawyers forced gvt hand over dea reports re lawrence harrison, a witness for major mexican drug traffickers. harrison told dea he heard in early 80s that guerrillas--presumably contras-- were trained at a ranch in mexico owned by drug lord rafael caro quintero, now imprisoned in mexico for participating in camarena murder. harrison also said camp watched over by mexico's federal security directorate and sponsored by cia. other samples of drug dealers working with knowledge of cia. the nation 8/20/90 156 mexico, 83-89 trial in los angeles of four men accused of involvement in 85 murder of u.s. narcotics agent enrique camarena, has brought to surface years of resentment by drug enforcement admin officials of cia long collaboration with a former mexican secret police unit heavily involved in drug trafficking. according to dea sources and documents, mexican drug trafficking cartel that kidnapped and murdered camarena in central city of guadalajara in february 1985 operated until then with virtual impunity--not only because in league with mexico's powerful federal security directorate but because it believed its activities were secretly sanctioned by cia. wp 7/16/90 a1, 16, 17 mexico, 84-90 manuel buendia, mexican jack anderson, gunned down may 84. probably killed in coverup of international drug-dealing net that had complicity of mexican gvt and looped in cia. in 89 mexican gvt charged jose antonio zorilla who at time of murder was head of federal security directorate, or dfs, mexico's fbi. dea docs at los angeles trial show buenda was investigating drugs etc. dea interviews with laurence victor harrison show links. a vasquez had told buendia about a ranch allegedly owned by drug traffickers and used by cia to train guerrillas. airstrips owned by drug lords used by cia to fly arms to contras. washington post jack anderson 8/21/90 d13 mexico, 85-90 mexican suspect denies 85 death of dea agent. details of case re aldana, herrera, machain plus others in wp 2/10/90 a14,16. time 2/12/90 25. washington post 2/1/90 a5 mexico, 85-90 "camarena affair, another covert ops drug scandal." unclassified 9/90 4 mexico, 87-90 informant puts cia at ranch of agent's killer. (u.s. drug agent enrique camarena salazar). lat * 7/5/90 a1 mexico, 90 brother-in-law of former mexican pres found guilty of racketeering, kidnapping and conspiracy in death of u.s. drug agent enrique "kiki" camarena. washington post 8/1/90 a12 mexico, 90 mexican federal police officers will be permitted to operate in the u.s. under new guidelines governing anti-drug cooperation between the two countries, mexican and u.s. officials said yesterday. washington post 6/30/90, a25 mexico, 90 mexico asked u.s. to extradite senior drug enforcement admin agent and key dea informant to face charges of illegality abducting defendant indicted in 85 torture-murder of dea agent enrique "kiki" carmarena. washington post 7/21/90 a4 mexico, 92 2 cararena defendants go on trial. washington post 12/3/92 a3 mexico, 92 dea's cross-border abduction of mexican doctor ruled legal by supreme court because it not explicitly forbidden by extradition treaty. intelligence newsletter 6/25/92 3,4 mexico, 92 for several decades u.s. and mexico have mounted a campaign against drug production and trafficking - report on. resource center bulletin fall (9) 92 6 pages mexico, 92 judge said informant told u.s. gvt in september that gvt prosecuting wrong doctor for administering drugs to keep an american drug agent alive for torture - this at alvarez machain's trial. washington times 12/17/92 a6 mexico, 92 u.s. presses mexico in drug gang deaths. dea said to point to grave of 4 americans. washington post 12/18/92 a39 mexico, 96 clinton outlined his plans for increasing u.s.-mexico coordination on fighting drug trafficking. clinton's order ties u.s. and mexican efforts in such areas as tracking fugitives, halting money laundering and methamphetamine production, and boosting drug treatment strategies, police coordination and border patrols. mexico has quickly emerged as leading focus of u.s. anti-drug efforts, having been identified as handling 70 percent of illegal drugs entering the us. adm decided against adding mexico to list of decertified countries that include colombia, nigeria, syria, iran, burma and afghanistan. clinton's order calls for: developing methods of stopping money-laundering and other financial crimes related to drug trafficking. reducing demand for drugs, including sharing info between the two countries on effective drug prevention and treatment programs. a study by u.s. and mexican officials of methods to attack production of methamphetamine, which ``has become the drug of choice in california and is becoming more common across u.s.'' tighter controls on chemicals and other ingredients used in the production of drugs. steps for increasing cross-border law enforcement efforts and sharing criminal info. improved mechanisms for capturing and returning fugitives across the u.s.-mexican border; methods for denying international drug traffickers use of air, land and sea travel routes. upi 4/8/96 mexico, guatemala, 81-84 cia trained guatemalan guerrillas in early 1980s at a ranch near veracruz, mexico, owned by drug lord rafael caro quntero, one of the murderers of u.s. drug agent "kiki" camarena, according to drug enforcement admin report made public here. wp 7/5/90, a8. doj asked iran-contra prosecutor walsh's office review allegations cia used ranch of mexican drug trafficker as a training base in early 80s. wp 7/6/90, a4. judge in enrique "kiki" camarena murder trial today called "incompetent" testimony of a prosecution witness who had alleged that mexican drug traffickers were linked with cia and were helping to arm nicaraguan rebels. washington post 7/17/90, a11 mexico, italy, 95 former mexican police commander, armando pavon reyes, wanted in connection with the 1985 torture and murder of dea agent enrique camarena salazar, was arrested in a milan piazza. ap 10/17/95 mexico, seven mexican anti-drug agents murdered by the mexican army. murdered agents sent to scene by dea. details in intelligence newsletter 12/4/91 3 middle east, england, 85-91 chuck lewis, then associated press's washington bureau chief met "six or seven" times with oliver north over hostage situation. reporters who wrote contra stories, robert parry and brian barger, said lewis delayed publication of several of their stories for weeks or months. reporters not told of meetings. "if he was dealing with oliver north on terry anderson, at a minimum he shouldn't have insisted on editing our stories on north,..." barger said the delayed articles involved allegations of drug trafficking, corruption and cia involvement with the contras. "on some of these stories we had 2 or 3 dozen sources." washington post 12/14/91 c1,8 nicaragua. federico vaughan: official of nicaraguan sandinistas whose picture allegedly taken with pablo escobar by barry seal as part of a u.s. government-financed sting operation. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 263 nicaragua, 81-96 news story has made danilo blandon the star. "a full-service drug dealer, is the star of a recent series of explosive articles on how fbi ignored and cia encouraged california cocaine and crack consumption to finance contra rebels in nicaragua during mid-1980s. in addition to tons of inexpensive cocaine, blandon also sold assault weapons and sophisticated commo gear, including hidden microphone detectors. blandon first appeared in dea files in 1981 and was arrested during police raids in 1986, but no charges were filed. again in 1991, he was arrested, this time for money laundering in los angeles, but case was dropped at federal request. blandon, 45, is youngest son of wealthy nicaraguan landowners and worked for somoza in the late 1970s before raising money for contras during 80s. he was a full-time dea informant and, as a businessman, ran car rentals in miami, tampa, fort lauderdale and orlando, all in florida, plus restaurants in miami and san diego, a car lot in los angeles and import-export businesses on the east and west coasts. his right-hand men in the contra drug business were nicaraguan norwin meneses, 48, and american "freeway" rick ross, 36, who, by 1987, had one of the largest crack cocaine distribution networks in the country. blandon is "the johnny appleseed of crack in california -- the crips' and bloods' [los angeles gangs] first direct-connect to cocaine cartels of colombia". according to scientific reports, crack was invented in san francisco, in 1974 and, with help of blandon and others, the world epidemic spread from there in the late 1970s and early 1980s. intelligence - a computerized intelligence newsletter published in france 9/9/96 14 nicaragua, 82-87 see "nicaraguan rebels linked drug trafficking." rebels in north costa rica have engaged in cocaine trafficking, according to us investigators and american volunteers who work with the rebels. washington post 12/27/85 a22 nicaragua, 82-96 congressional black caucus urges probe of cia-contra drug charge. allegations raised in articles in san jose mercury news re crack cocaine being smuggled into the us. and sold to inner-city blacks to help support contras. washington post 9/13/96 a28 nicaragua, 83-84 attempts to link the sandinistas to the illegal drug traffic lacks proof. the nation 9/22/84 228-9 nicaragua, 83-85 colombian george morales, a drug merchant, donated a c-47 to pastora's arde. during 16 months plane made 11 supply drops inside nicaragua. duran a pilot smuggled drugs. garvin, g. (1992). everybody has his own gringo 109 nicaragua, 84-85 drug trafficker jorge morales claimed cia approached him in 1984 offering him legal protection if he agreed to fly weapons to contras while returning with drugs. weapons were loaded at opa-locka airport near miami or executive airport in fort lauderdale and flown to honduras, costa rica or el salvador. $4.5 million in drug profits went to contras. op went on for 18 months with full u.s. gov knowledge. eddy, p. (1988). the cocaine wars 327-332 nicaragua, 84-86 witness accuses adolfo chamorro, nicaragua counsel in miami and nephew of violetta chamorro, of helping smuggling more than a ton of cocaine into south florida. fabio ernesto carrasco, a colombian pilot said he flew planeloads from c.a. to florida. testified that chamorro aka popo was part of conspiracy. miami herald 10/12/90 6a nicaragua, 84 undercover dea agent barry seal met with fredrico vaugham, a man who described himself as a high nic. gov official, to arrange for drug transhipments at los brasiles airstrip in 1984. on 25 june seal flew a camera equipped c-123 (arranged by cia) from u.s. to managua where seal took photos of vaugham with pablo escobar. three days later, gen paul gorman accused sandinistas of drug trafficking. subsequent press releases compromised seal's true identity, effectively terminating dia op. (note: articles in the nation and wall street journal suggest sandinistas were framed. this author disagrees saying cia foiled dea operation implying a conflict of interest between cia & dia. he questions identity of vaugham.) eddy, p. (1988). the cocaine wars 296-299,375 nicaragua, 85-86 reagan adm acknowledges that some contras have engaged in some drug trafficking. washington post 8/27/86 a8 nicaragua, 86-87 see article "guns for drugs? senate probers trace an old contra connection to george bush's office." newsweek 5/23/88 22 nicaragua, 86 contra organizer in california, norwin meneses canterero is accused of drug trafficking. sf examiner 6/23/86 from intel parapolitics 9/86 p8 nicaragua, 94 oliver north sacrificed antidrug effort when it benefitted contras. in 88, dea officials testified how they believed north compromised drug investigation. when briefed north developed hypothetical plan using barry seal - that would swing congressional vote in favor of contras. leak, that appeared in washington times, destroyed op but linked sandinistas to drug but there was no such evidence of that link. north also tried to get leniency for "a serious international terrorist," honduran general jose bueso rosa - a contra supporter who pleaded guilty in plotting to smuggle cocaine to u.s. to finance the assassination of the democratically elected president of honduras. gen. released from jail. the nation 6/13/94 820,1 nicaragua, colombia, 83-96 during much of 1980s, the san jose mercury news has reported, a drug-dealing op sold tons of cocaine to street gangs in los angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a latin american guerrilla contra army run by cia. an extensive three-part series, published aug. 18-20 by the mercury news, maps a cia drug network that "opened the first pipeline between colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of los angeles. reporter gary webb concluded: cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban america -- and provided the cash and connections needed for l.a.'s gangs to buy automatic weapons. cia arranged an alliance between a u.s.-backed army attempting to overthrow a revolutionary socialist government" in nicaragua and drug-dealers wielding machine guns in ghetto areas of southern california. on capitol hill that summer, iran-contra hearings avoided cia and contra links to large-scale cocaine smuggling. yet, congressional panels had access to handwritten notes by reagan administration official oliver north, whose notebooks contained 543 pages with references to the drug trade. in one notation about contra arms supplies, north wrote: "$14 million came from drugs." even after such excerpts from north's notes were made public, most news media bypassed the contra-cia-cocaine connection. the detour around the story became more extreme in 1988: the senate's subcommittee on terrorism and narcotics, chaired by john kerry, released an in-depth report that nailed the cia for cocaine trafficking with the contras. but media coverage was muddled and fleeting. mediabeat igc.apc.org 8/23/96 nicaragua, colombia, 89 reagan administration repeatedly undercut law enforcement efforts against colombian drug cartels to support its contra aid policy according to report released by sen john kerry (d-ma) on 20 april 89. four companies owned and operated by drug traffickers received $800,401 from state dept to supply contras in 1986. companies were setoc/hondu carib, frigorificos de puntarenas, diacsa and vortex, directed respectively by juan ramon mata ballestros, ramon milian rodriguez, alfredo caballero and michael b. palmer. note: only 200 copies of report were issued by senate subcommittee on narcotics, terrorism and international operations. intelligence newsletter 4/26/89 3 nicaragua, costa rica. carr and glibbery had been in prison for more than 10 months - they had been abandoned by their sponsors in u.s. t. posey and john hull in costa rica. glibbery said andy messing, a high-profile contra supporter in d.c. and director of national defense council had met with hull in costa rica. carr said he had flown to costa rica on plane owned by florida aircraft leasing corporation and leased by american flyers, a secretive air cargo company in s. florida. terrell, j., and martz, r. (1992). disposable patriot 319 nicaragua, costa rica, honduras. charter airline "setco" owned by major honduran drug lord - juan matta ballesteros and used by fdn. setco or air contra became terrell's primary airline. terrell, j., and martz, r. (1992). disposable patriot 217 nicaragua, cuba, 87 the cia no longer agrees with the reagan adm line that the cuban and nicaraguan gvts are smuggling drugs into the u.s. jack anderson washington post 5/3/87 e19 nicaragua, mexico, 87-90 cia denies it used property of drug ring, denies charge it stored weapons destined for nicaragua contras on ranch owned by mexican drug traffickers). new york times * 7/21/90 6n nicaragua, panama 91 u.s. govt. witness floyd carlton caceres testified in manual noriega trial of oct 91 that he had flown weapons to nicaraguan contras in 1983-84 while he was flying cocaine into u.s. for medellin drug cartel. flights were organized by alfredo caballero, a miami-based businessman later indicted with carlton on drug charges. washington post 10/2/91 a4 nicaragua, panama, 87-88 bitterness between marshalls service and dea on one hand and cia on other. cia considered a defender of its agents who also drug smugglers. matta case proved cia's willingness to defend drug smugglers as long as they anti-communists. senator kerry's staff noted that matta's ownership of setco in mid 80s provides circumstantial proof cia willing tolerate drug corruption if it meant added chance for survival of contras. they had evidence of matta's ties to colonel arias, who in turn friendly with noriega. perry, m. (1992). eclipse: the last days of the cia 124 nnbis (national narcotics border interdiction system): coordinated u.s. interagency antidrug effort launched in 1983 under vice president george bush. scott, p. & marshall, j. (1991). cocaine politics 261 pakistan, 85-87 in those years there has been a staggering increase in the production of opium and the export of heroin to the u.s. jack anderson washington post circa 3/13/87 pakistan, 91-94 pakistan's army chief proposed selling heroin to pay for covert military ops in early 91, per former pm nawaz sharif. gen aslam beg and gen asas durrani, then head of military's inter-services intel bureau (isi), told him armed forces needed more money for covert foreign ops and wanted to raise it thru large-scale drug deals. durrani, denied charges and is now pakistan's ambassador to germany. a cia consultant in 92, warned that drug corruption had permeated virtually all segments of pakistan society - including president and military intel services. about 30 tons heroin produced annually in pakistan, about a third is smuggled abroad - mostly to west, according to state dept's 1994 report on international drug trafficking. about 20% of heroin in u.s. comes from pakistan and afghanistan, second largest opium producer after burma. 80% of heroin in europe comes from region. isi powerful and pursues its own agenda. civilian leaders have accused the military of developing nuclear technology and arming insurgents in india and other countries without their knowledge and approval. th