";s:4:"text";s:23990:"U.S. authorities claim the CIA is more interested in protecting its assets, including top drug trafficker and kidnapping principal Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo. . [43] In the column Ceppos continued to defend parts of the article, writing that the series had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and did sell large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. The contras provided both protection and infrastructure (planes, pilots, airstrips, warehouses, front companies, and banks) to these CIA-linked drug networks. When Senate investigators later asked the Justice Department to explain this unusual turn of events, they ran into a wall of secrecy. Ricky Ross claims to this day to have been provided with cocaine by the CIA, but is this true? The series unleashed a storm of protest, spearheaded by black radio stations and the congressional Black Caucus, with demands for official inquiries. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). 2) The series' estimates of the money involved was presented as fact instead of an estimate. In 2004, Webb was found dead at the age of 49 from two gunshot wounds to the head. [51], In the 623rd paragraph, the report described a cable from the CIA's Directorate of Operations dated October 22, 1982, describing a prospective meeting between Contra leaders in Costa Rica for "an exchange in [the United States] of narcotics for arms, which then are shipped to Nicaragua. On October 3, 1996, LA County Sheriff Sherman Block ordered a fourth investigation into Webb's claims that a 1986 raid on Blandn's drug organization by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department had produced evidence of CIA ties to drug smuggling and that this was later suppressed. The general is rewarded handsomely for his services in support of Contras forces in Nicaragua during the 1980s, collecting $200,000 from the CIA in 1986 alone. The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times all ran their own investigations that disputed many points in Webbs story though all three of those pieces had their own reporting problems, according to TIMEs Jack E. White. The story attracted hundreds of thousands of readers to the newspapers site at a time when going viral was still a twinkle in the Internets eye. CIA Director John Deutch declared that he found no connection whatsoever between the CIA and cocaine traffickers. : r/virginvschad. It concluded, however, that these problems were "a far cry from the type of broad manipulation and corruption of the federal criminal justice system suggested by the original allegations. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US govemment contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the worlds illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for Americas booming heroin market. In 1989, after the Costa Rica government indicted Hull for drug trafficking, a DEA-hired plane clandestinely and illegally flew the CIA operative to Miami, via Haiti. WebCIA has had a solid rule against being involved in drug trafficking. Many had long been involved with the CIA and drug trafficking They used contra planes and a Costa Rican-based shnmp company, which laundered money for the CIA, to move cocaine to the U.S. Costa Rica was not the only route. Representative Maxine Waters, a congresswoman for South Central Los Angeles the heart of the drug wars requested both federal and congressional inquiries into the role that the U.S. government played in bringing cocaine into her community. On talk radio and in the street, others have taken those charges further--alleging that the CIA was directly, and deliberately, involved in drug trafficking. Based on a year-long investigation, reporter Gary Webb wrote that during the 1980s the CIA helped finance its covert war against Nicaraguas leftist government through sales of cut-rate cocaine to South Central L.A. drug dealer, Ricky Ross. The output provided up to one-half of the heroin used annually in the United States and three-quarters of that used in Western Europe. Chinese Communist revolution causes collapse of drug empire allied with U.S. intelligence community, but a new one quickly emerges under the command of Nationalist (KMT) General Li Mi, who flees Yunnan into eastern Burma. The charges linked the Contra trafficking to Sebastin Gonzlez Mendiola, who was charged with cocaine trafficking on November 26, 1984, in Costa Rica. The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium baron of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand, and Laos), the worlds largest source of opium and heroin. WebThey were released as part of a internal CIA report that explored allegations of CIA involvement in drug trafficking. While much of the CIA-contra-drug story had been revealed years ago in the press and in congressional hearings, the Mercury News series added a crucial missing link: It followed the cocaine trail to Ross and black L.A. gangs who became street-level distributors of crack, a cheap and powerful form of cocaine. Cuban intelligence officers have Several also said they supplied information about the smuggling to U.S. "[11], In April 1986, Associated Press reported on an FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking. Citing existing federal policy on narcotics enforcement, Smith wrote: "In light of these provisions and in view of the fine cooperation the Drug Enforcement Administration has received from CIA, no formal requirement regarding the reporting of narcotics violations has been included in these procedures. [35], The Post response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. In short, Webb accused the CIA of being complicit in getting thousands of poor African-Americans addicted to crack in order to fund rebels in Central America. The next year, he published a book titled Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion detailing his own reporting process and the controversy the series provoked. ", The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. After being repelled from China with heavy losses, the KMT settles down with local population and organizes and expands the opium trade from Burma and Northern Thailand. You have reached your limit of free articles. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras The National Security Archive obtained the hand-written notebooks of Oliver North, the National Security Council aide who helped run the contra war and other Reagan administration covert operations, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 1989. According to the report, "Twelve American, Nicaraguan and Cuban-American rebel backers interviewed by The Associated Press said they had been questioned over the past several months [about contra cocaine trafficking] by the FBI. [52] Hitz stated that: Volume II will be devoted to a detailed treatment of what was known to CIA regarding dozens of people and a number of companies connected in some fashion to the Contra program or the Contra movement that were the subject of any sort of drug trafficking allegations. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles. A Christian Science Monitor correspondent reports that the CIA `is cognizant of, if not party to, the extensive movement of opium out of Laos,' quoting one charter pilot who claims that `opium shipments get special CIA clearance and monitoring on their flights southward out of the country.' This support "was not directed by anyone within the Contra movement who had an association with the CIA," and the Committee found "no evidence that the CIA or the Intelligence Community was aware of these individuals' support. These factors, rather than anything as spectacular as a systematic effort by the CIA or any other intelligence agency to protect the drug trafficking activities of Contra supporters, determined what occurred in the cases we examined. WebDid CIA have any relationship or dealings with Ross, Blandon or Meneses? The CIA's Inspector General said the Agency wanted the money returned "to protect an operational equity, i.e., a Contra support group in which it [CIA] had an operational interest. From Left: Late journalist Gary Webb, Actor Jeremy Renner in 'Kill the Messenger', REVIEW: 'Whiplash' Moves to the Beat of a Driven Drummer, How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations. "[49][non-primary source needed] The two main Contra groups, US arms dealers, and a lieutenant of a drug ring which imported drugs from Latin America to the US west coast were set to attend the Costa Rica meeting. The U.S. repeatedly thwarted Costa Rican efforts to extradite Hull to Costa Rica to stand trial. 2021 Institute for Policy Studies1301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 | 202-234-9382. We believe that Cuban involvement in drug trafficking may help to promote Cuban political objec- tives in the Western Hemisphere. Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it's very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. "[57], This agreement, which had not previously been revealed, came at a time when there were allegations that the CIA was using drug dealers in its controversial covert operation to bring down the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. A 1996 Peter Dale Scott affidavit on CIA drugs trafficking explained his research into longstanding US government involvement. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. Did CIA intervene or otherwise play a role in any investigative or judicial processes involving the drug trafficking activities of Ross, Blandon or Meneses? An editorial in the Times, while criticizing the series for making "unsubstantiated charges," conceded that it did find "drug-smuggling and dealing by Nicaraguans with at least tentative connections to the Contras" and called for further investigation. In 1980, amidst several mysterious deaths, the bank collapsed, $50 million in debt. in Central America", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward", The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and The Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Central Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, And The Crack Cocaine Explosion, "PBS Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received U.S. government contracts to carry nonlethal supplies to the contras. The inspector general is clear that in some cases CIA knowledge of allegations or information indicating that organizations or individuals had been involved in drug trafficking did not deter their use by CIA. In other cases, CIA did not act to verify drug trafficking allegations or information even when it had the opportunity to do so. "[47], It also concluded that "the claims that Blandn and Meneses were responsible for introducing crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles and spreading the crack epidemic throughout the country were unsupported." Seeking to rekindle anticommunist resistance in China, the CIA provides arms, ammunition and other supplies to the KMT. Guatemala, whose military intelligence serviceclosely associated with the CIAharbored many drug traffickers, according to the DEA, was another way station along the cocaine highway. The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium barons of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand and Laos), the worlds largest source of opium and heroin. [20] Maxine Waters, the Representative for California's 35th district, which includes South-Central Los Angeles, was also outraged by the articles and became one of Webb's strongest supporters. In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. It only concluded that the State Department gave money to companies with the intent of helping the Contras that were involved in drug trafficking. [7], In 1985, another Contra leader "told U.S. authorities that his group was being paid $50,000 by Colombian traffickers for help with a 100 kilograms (220lb) cocaine shipment and that the money would go 'for the cause' of fighting the Nicaraguan government." The third article, by Mitchell and Fulwood, covered the effects of crack on African Americans and how it affected their reaction to some of the rumors that arose after the Dark Alliance series. [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. Southern Air Transport, formerly ClA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. [49], According to the report, the Inspector-General's office (OIG) examined all information the agency had "relating to CIA knowledge of drug trafficking allegations in regard to any person directly or indirectly involved in Contra activities." (However, he also noted that Webb disagreed with him on this point.). Many Gls in Vietnam became addicts. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). Was the drug trafficking of Ross, Blandon or Meneses linked to CIA or Contra activities? He told the Examiner, "I just wanted to get the Communists out of my country." These categories include many Drug use among Vietnam soldiers was [5] (G)overnments themselves, and the links they develop with major traffickers, are the key both to the drug-trafficking problem and to its solution, he explained. [51], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. From August 1820, 1996, the San Jose Mercury News published the Dark Alliance series by Gary Webb,[15][16] which claimed: 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 run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients drug trafficking. There are instances where CIA did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity or take action to resolve the allegations. They used contra planes and a Costa Rican-based shrimp company, which laundered money for the CIA, to channel cocaine to the U.S. Costa Rica was not the only route. The Corsicans gained political influence and control over the docks ideal conditions for cementing a long-term partnership with mafia drug distributors, which turned Marseille into the postwar heroin capital of the Western world. (In 1982, the DEA learned that Felix Gallardo was moving $20 million a month through a single Bank of America account, but it could not get the CIA to cooperate with its investigation.) CUBAN GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN DRUG TRAFFICKING Document Type: CREST Collection: General CIA Records Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87T00217R000700140002-5 Release Decision: RIPPUB Original Classification: S Document Page Count: 29 Document Creation Date: December 22, PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was for years a useful tool of the United States, until President George H.W. [41] The editors met with Webb several times in February to discuss the results of the paper's internal review and eventually decided to print neither Carey's draft article nor the articles Webb had filed. Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, drug money laundering in South and Central America, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Communications and International Economic Policy, Trade, Oceans, and Environment of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, "C.I.A. According to Alfred W. McCoy in The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrestle control of labor unions from the Communist Party. The Cuban exile claims he was a CIA protege, trained as part of the agency's anti-Castro efforts, and in exchange for his help in moving weapons to certain groups in Central America, the CIA facilitated his movement of drugs. Marseilles first heroin laboratones were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. Webb's series led to three federal investigations, all of which concluded there was no evidence of a conspiracy by CIA officials or its employees to bring drugs into the United States. The Justice Department, however, freed Blandn after only 28 months behind bars and then hired him as a full-time DEA informant, paying him more than $166,000. Hull and other ClA-connected contra supporters and pilots teamed up with George Morales, a major Miami-based Colombian drug trafficker who later admitted to giving $3 million in cash and several planes to contra leaders. Former head of the Venezuelan National Guard and CIA operative Gen. Ramon Gullien Davila is indicted in Miami on charges of smuggling as much as 22 tons of cocaine into the United States. They, in turn, had long dominated the drug traffic in the area of north-east Afghanistan that they controlled during the Taliban years. Federal prosecutors ordered the letter and other case evidence sealed for national security reasons. According to the series, Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles, and Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. [7][8][9] Pastora had complained about such charges as early as March 1985, claiming that "two 'political figures' in Washington told him last week that State Department and CIA personnel were spreading the rumor that he is linked to drug trafficking in order to isolate his movement. by LostKingOfPortugal. The first article, by Katz, developed a different picture of the origins of the crack trade than Dark Alliance had described, with more gangs and smugglers participating. The CIA has a long history of being involved in global drug trade in all parts of the world under the control of the US or where it has considerable influence. Ceppos said that the paper did not have proof that top CIA officials knew about the connection between the L.A. drug trade and the contras. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the worlds illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for Americas booming heroin market. ", "I know specifically that some of the CIA contract workers, meaning some of the pilots, in fact were bringing drugs into the U.S. and landing some of these drugs in government air bases. Police ruled it a suicide. Among the top Mexican politicians, law enforcement and intelligence officials from whom Sicilia enjoyed support was Miguel Nazar Haro, head of the Direccion Federal de Seguridad (DFS), who the CIA admits was its `most important source in Mexico and Central America.' It was accompanied by a heavy-handed picture of a man smoking crack under the CIA seal. Because the CIA believed Miranda was in the United States . With branches in Saudi Arabia, Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and the U.S., Nugan Hand Bank financed drug trafficking, money laundering and international arms dealings. WebDocumentation of Official U.S. Manuel Antonio Noriega goes on the CIA payroll. In 1993, an official of the DEA dubbed Afghanistan the new Colombia of the drug world. [40] By January, Webb filed drafts of four more articles based on his trip, but his editors concluded that the new articles would not help shore up the original series' claims. . In addition to those servicing the Meneses-Blandon operation detailed by the Mercury News, and Noriegas operation, there was CIA operative John Hull, whose farms along Costa Ricas border with Nicaragua were the main staging area for the contras. [6] In 1989, the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations (the Kerry committee) concluded a three-year investigation by stating: There was substantial evidence of drug smuggling through the war zones on the part of individual Contras, Contra suppliers, Contra pilots mercenaries who worked with the Contras, and Contra supporters throughout the region. For many years, the Panamanian was on the CIA payrolldespite Washington knowing he was involved in drug trafficking since at least 1972. The OSS and ONI also work closely with Chinese gangsters who control vast supplies of opium, morphine and heroin, helping to establish the third pillar of the post-world War II heroin trade in the Golden Triangle, the border region of Thailand, Burma, Laos and China's Yunnan Province. In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. 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. [43] In the column Ceppos continued to defend parts of the article, writing that the series had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and did sell large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. The contras provided both protection and infrastructure (planes, pilots, airstrips, warehouses, front companies, and banks) to these CIA-linked drug networks. When Senate investigators later asked the Justice Department to explain this unusual turn of events, they ran into a wall of secrecy. Ricky Ross claims to this day to have been provided with cocaine by the CIA, but is this true? The series unleashed a storm of protest, spearheaded by black radio stations and the congressional Black Caucus, with demands for official inquiries. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). 2) The series' estimates of the money involved was presented as fact instead of an estimate. In 2004, Webb was found dead at the age of 49 from two gunshot wounds to the head. [51], In the 623rd paragraph, the report described a cable from the CIA's Directorate of Operations dated October 22, 1982, describing a prospective meeting between Contra leaders in Costa Rica for "an exchange in [the United States] of narcotics for arms, which then are shipped to Nicaragua. On October 3, 1996, LA County Sheriff Sherman Block ordered a fourth investigation into Webb's claims that a 1986 raid on Blandn's drug organization by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department had produced evidence of CIA ties to drug smuggling and that this was later suppressed. The general is rewarded handsomely for his services in support of Contras forces in Nicaragua during the 1980s, collecting $200,000 from the CIA in 1986 alone. The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times all ran their own investigations that disputed many points in Webbs story though all three of those pieces had their own reporting problems, according to TIMEs Jack E. White. The story attracted hundreds of thousands of readers to the newspapers site at a time when going viral was still a twinkle in the Internets eye. CIA Director John Deutch declared that he found no connection whatsoever between the CIA and cocaine traffickers. : r/virginvschad. It concluded, however, that these problems were "a far cry from the type of broad manipulation and corruption of the federal criminal justice system suggested by the original allegations. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US govemment contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the worlds illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for Americas booming heroin market. In 1989, after the Costa Rica government indicted Hull for drug trafficking, a DEA-hired plane clandestinely and illegally flew the CIA operative to Miami, via Haiti. WebCIA has had a solid rule against being involved in drug trafficking. Many had long been involved with the CIA and drug trafficking They used contra planes and a Costa Rican-based shnmp company, which laundered money for the CIA, to move cocaine to the U.S. Costa Rica was not the only route. Representative Maxine Waters, a congresswoman for South Central Los Angeles the heart of the drug wars requested both federal and congressional inquiries into the role that the U.S. government played in bringing cocaine into her community. On talk radio and in the street, others have taken those charges further--alleging that the CIA was directly, and deliberately, involved in drug trafficking. Based on a year-long investigation, reporter Gary Webb wrote that during the 1980s the CIA helped finance its covert war against Nicaraguas leftist government through sales of cut-rate cocaine to South Central L.A. drug dealer, Ricky Ross. The output provided up to one-half of the heroin used annually in the United States and three-quarters of that used in Western Europe. Chinese Communist revolution causes collapse of drug empire allied with U.S. intelligence community, but a new one quickly emerges under the command of Nationalist (KMT) General Li Mi, who flees Yunnan into eastern Burma. The charges linked the Contra trafficking to Sebastin Gonzlez Mendiola, who was charged with cocaine trafficking on November 26, 1984, in Costa Rica. The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium baron of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand, and Laos), the worlds largest source of opium and heroin. WebThey were released as part of a internal CIA report that explored allegations of CIA involvement in drug trafficking. While much of the CIA-contra-drug story had been revealed years ago in the press and in congressional hearings, the Mercury News series added a crucial missing link: It followed the cocaine trail to Ross and black L.A. gangs who became street-level distributors of crack, a cheap and powerful form of cocaine. Cuban intelligence officers have Several also said they supplied information about the smuggling to U.S. "[11], In April 1986, Associated Press reported on an FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking. Citing existing federal policy on narcotics enforcement, Smith wrote: "In light of these provisions and in view of the fine cooperation the Drug Enforcement Administration has received from CIA, no formal requirement regarding the reporting of narcotics violations has been included in these procedures. [35], The Post response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. In short, Webb accused the CIA of being complicit in getting thousands of poor African-Americans addicted to crack in order to fund rebels in Central America. The next year, he published a book titled Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion detailing his own reporting process and the controversy the series provoked. ", The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. After being repelled from China with heavy losses, the KMT settles down with local population and organizes and expands the opium trade from Burma and Northern Thailand. You have reached your limit of free articles. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras The National Security Archive obtained the hand-written notebooks of Oliver North, the National Security Council aide who helped run the contra war and other Reagan administration covert operations, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 1989. According to the report, "Twelve American, Nicaraguan and Cuban-American rebel backers interviewed by The Associated Press said they had been questioned over the past several months [about contra cocaine trafficking] by the FBI. [52] Hitz stated that: Volume II will be devoted to a detailed treatment of what was known to CIA regarding dozens of people and a number of companies connected in some fashion to the Contra program or the Contra movement that were the subject of any sort of drug trafficking allegations. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles. A Christian Science Monitor correspondent reports that the CIA `is cognizant of, if not party to, the extensive movement of opium out of Laos,' quoting one charter pilot who claims that `opium shipments get special CIA clearance and monitoring on their flights southward out of the country.' This support "was not directed by anyone within the Contra movement who had an association with the CIA," and the Committee found "no evidence that the CIA or the Intelligence Community was aware of these individuals' support. These factors, rather than anything as spectacular as a systematic effort by the CIA or any other intelligence agency to protect the drug trafficking activities of Contra supporters, determined what occurred in the cases we examined. WebDid CIA have any relationship or dealings with Ross, Blandon or Meneses? The CIA's Inspector General said the Agency wanted the money returned "to protect an operational equity, i.e., a Contra support group in which it [CIA] had an operational interest. From Left: Late journalist Gary Webb, Actor Jeremy Renner in 'Kill the Messenger', REVIEW: 'Whiplash' Moves to the Beat of a Driven Drummer, How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations. "[49][non-primary source needed] The two main Contra groups, US arms dealers, and a lieutenant of a drug ring which imported drugs from Latin America to the US west coast were set to attend the Costa Rica meeting. The U.S. repeatedly thwarted Costa Rican efforts to extradite Hull to Costa Rica to stand trial. 2021 Institute for Policy Studies1301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 | 202-234-9382. We believe that Cuban involvement in drug trafficking may help to promote Cuban political objec- tives in the Western Hemisphere. Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it's very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. "[57], This agreement, which had not previously been revealed, came at a time when there were allegations that the CIA was using drug dealers in its controversial covert operation to bring down the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. A 1996 Peter Dale Scott affidavit on CIA drugs trafficking explained his research into longstanding US government involvement. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. Did CIA intervene or otherwise play a role in any investigative or judicial processes involving the drug trafficking activities of Ross, Blandon or Meneses? An editorial in the Times, while criticizing the series for making "unsubstantiated charges," conceded that it did find "drug-smuggling and dealing by Nicaraguans with at least tentative connections to the Contras" and called for further investigation. In 1980, amidst several mysterious deaths, the bank collapsed, $50 million in debt. in Central America", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward", The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and The Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Central Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, And The Crack Cocaine Explosion, "PBS Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received U.S. government contracts to carry nonlethal supplies to the contras. The inspector general is clear that in some cases CIA knowledge of allegations or information indicating that organizations or individuals had been involved in drug trafficking did not deter their use by CIA. In other cases, CIA did not act to verify drug trafficking allegations or information even when it had the opportunity to do so. "[47], It also concluded that "the claims that Blandn and Meneses were responsible for introducing crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles and spreading the crack epidemic throughout the country were unsupported." Seeking to rekindle anticommunist resistance in China, the CIA provides arms, ammunition and other supplies to the KMT. Guatemala, whose military intelligence serviceclosely associated with the CIAharbored many drug traffickers, according to the DEA, was another way station along the cocaine highway. The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium barons of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand and Laos), the worlds largest source of opium and heroin. [20] Maxine Waters, the Representative for California's 35th district, which includes South-Central Los Angeles, was also outraged by the articles and became one of Webb's strongest supporters. In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. It only concluded that the State Department gave money to companies with the intent of helping the Contras that were involved in drug trafficking. [7], In 1985, another Contra leader "told U.S. authorities that his group was being paid $50,000 by Colombian traffickers for help with a 100 kilograms (220lb) cocaine shipment and that the money would go 'for the cause' of fighting the Nicaraguan government." The third article, by Mitchell and Fulwood, covered the effects of crack on African Americans and how it affected their reaction to some of the rumors that arose after the Dark Alliance series. [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. Southern Air Transport, formerly ClA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. [49], According to the report, the Inspector-General's office (OIG) examined all information the agency had "relating to CIA knowledge of drug trafficking allegations in regard to any person directly or indirectly involved in Contra activities." (However, he also noted that Webb disagreed with him on this point.). Many Gls in Vietnam became addicts. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). Was the drug trafficking of Ross, Blandon or Meneses linked to CIA or Contra activities? He told the Examiner, "I just wanted to get the Communists out of my country." These categories include many Drug use among Vietnam soldiers was [5] (G)overnments themselves, and the links they develop with major traffickers, are the key both to the drug-trafficking problem and to its solution, he explained. [51], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. From August 1820, 1996, the San Jose Mercury News published the Dark Alliance series by Gary Webb,[15][16] which claimed: 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 run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients drug trafficking. There are instances where CIA did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity or take action to resolve the allegations. They used contra planes and a Costa Rican-based shrimp company, which laundered money for the CIA, to channel cocaine to the U.S. Costa Rica was not the only route. The Corsicans gained political influence and control over the docks ideal conditions for cementing a long-term partnership with mafia drug distributors, which turned Marseille into the postwar heroin capital of the Western world. (In 1982, the DEA learned that Felix Gallardo was moving $20 million a month through a single Bank of America account, but it could not get the CIA to cooperate with its investigation.) CUBAN GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN DRUG TRAFFICKING Document Type: CREST Collection: General CIA Records Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87T00217R000700140002-5 Release Decision: RIPPUB Original Classification: S Document Page Count: 29 Document Creation Date: December 22, PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was for years a useful tool of the United States, until President George H.W. [41] The editors met with Webb several times in February to discuss the results of the paper's internal review and eventually decided to print neither Carey's draft article nor the articles Webb had filed. Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, drug money laundering in South and Central America, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Communications and International Economic Policy, Trade, Oceans, and Environment of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, "C.I.A. According to Alfred W. McCoy in The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrestle control of labor unions from the Communist Party. The Cuban exile claims he was a CIA protege, trained as part of the agency's anti-Castro efforts, and in exchange for his help in moving weapons to certain groups in Central America, the CIA facilitated his movement of drugs. Marseilles first heroin laboratones were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. Webb's series led to three federal investigations, all of which concluded there was no evidence of a conspiracy by CIA officials or its employees to bring drugs into the United States. The Justice Department, however, freed Blandn after only 28 months behind bars and then hired him as a full-time DEA informant, paying him more than $166,000. Hull and other ClA-connected contra supporters and pilots teamed up with George Morales, a major Miami-based Colombian drug trafficker who later admitted to giving $3 million in cash and several planes to contra leaders. Former head of the Venezuelan National Guard and CIA operative Gen. Ramon Gullien Davila is indicted in Miami on charges of smuggling as much as 22 tons of cocaine into the United States. They, in turn, had long dominated the drug traffic in the area of north-east Afghanistan that they controlled during the Taliban years. Federal prosecutors ordered the letter and other case evidence sealed for national security reasons. According to the series, Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles, and Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. [7][8][9] Pastora had complained about such charges as early as March 1985, claiming that "two 'political figures' in Washington told him last week that State Department and CIA personnel were spreading the rumor that he is linked to drug trafficking in order to isolate his movement. by LostKingOfPortugal. The first article, by Katz, developed a different picture of the origins of the crack trade than Dark Alliance had described, with more gangs and smugglers participating. The CIA has a long history of being involved in global drug trade in all parts of the world under the control of the US or where it has considerable influence. Ceppos said that the paper did not have proof that top CIA officials knew about the connection between the L.A. drug trade and the contras. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the worlds illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for Americas booming heroin market. ", "I know specifically that some of the CIA contract workers, meaning some of the pilots, in fact were bringing drugs into the U.S. and landing some of these drugs in government air bases. Police ruled it a suicide. Among the top Mexican politicians, law enforcement and intelligence officials from whom Sicilia enjoyed support was Miguel Nazar Haro, head of the Direccion Federal de Seguridad (DFS), who the CIA admits was its `most important source in Mexico and Central America.' It was accompanied by a heavy-handed picture of a man smoking crack under the CIA seal. Because the CIA believed Miranda was in the United States . With branches in Saudi Arabia, Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and the U.S., Nugan Hand Bank financed drug trafficking, money laundering and international arms dealings. WebDocumentation of Official U.S. Manuel Antonio Noriega goes on the CIA payroll. In 1993, an official of the DEA dubbed Afghanistan the new Colombia of the drug world. [40] By January, Webb filed drafts of four more articles based on his trip, but his editors concluded that the new articles would not help shore up the original series' claims. . In addition to those servicing the Meneses-Blandon operation detailed by the Mercury News, and Noriegas operation, there was CIA operative John Hull, whose farms along Costa Ricas border with Nicaragua were the main staging area for the contras. [6] In 1989, the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations (the Kerry committee) concluded a three-year investigation by stating: There was substantial evidence of drug smuggling through the war zones on the part of individual Contras, Contra suppliers, Contra pilots mercenaries who worked with the Contras, and Contra supporters throughout the region. For many years, the Panamanian was on the CIA payrolldespite Washington knowing he was involved in drug trafficking since at least 1972. The OSS and ONI also work closely with Chinese gangsters who control vast supplies of opium, morphine and heroin, helping to establish the third pillar of the post-world War II heroin trade in the Golden Triangle, the border region of Thailand, Burma, Laos and China's Yunnan Province. In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. 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