Gene "Chip" Tatum, former CIA operative and pilot, was a firsthand witness to drug and weapons trafficking in the early 1980's by Bill Clinton, George H.W. Snowfall (2017- ) 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. The Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney was a CIA bank in all but name. ", Many follow-ups to the original series published over the next three months are in the series archive at. Only large packages were inspected, so that small amounts of opium for local consumption might have been carried by individuals, but the prohibition of commercial traffic was unequivocal. History of CIA Involvement in Drug Trafficking "In my 30year history in the Drug Enforcement Administration and related agencies, the major targets of my investigations almost invariably turned out to be working for the CIA." Dennis Dayle, former chief of an elite DEA enforcement unit. This is really what has always been behind the War on Drugs; the problem that is being addressed is not drug use, but the existence of drug cartels, narco-terrorism, and political groups that use drug money to fund private wars. Its function of covert operations is by definition illegal and therefore requires secret funding. In the suburbs of Long Island, NY, heroin use is an increasing problem. The CIA's front company, Air America was alleged to have profited from transporting opium and heroin on behalf of Hmong leader Vang Pao,[15][16] or of "turning a blind eye" to the Laotian military doing it. The San Jose Mercury News series written by Gary Webb, documents just one thread of the interwoven operations linking the CIA, the contras and the cocaine cartels. [32], In October 2013, two former federal agents and an ex-CIA contractor told an American television network that CIA operatives were involved in the kidnapping and murder of DEA covert agent Enrique Camarena, because he was a threat to the agency's drug operations in Mexico in the 1980s. "Allegations linking CIA secret operations and drug trafficking have persisted on and off ever since the Agency's founding in 1947. Journalist Gary Webb's expose of CIA involvement in Nicaraguan drugs trafficking, supporting the contras, dealing with Los Angeles crack dealers, made him a . Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal Votes: 430,211 | Gross: $46.89M 3. Juarez, Mexico - The US Central Intelligence Agency and other international security forces "don't fight drug traffickers", a spokesman for the Chihuahua state government in . The CIA, DEA, State Department, and several other U.S. government agencies have been alleged to have relations with various groups which are involved in drug trafficking. But while calling the flaws in the series "unforgivably careless journalism," Overholser also criticized the Post's refusal to print Ceppos' letter defending the series and sharply criticized the Post's coverage of the story. [36] Overholser was harshly critical of the series, "reported by a seemingly hotheaded fellow willing to have people leap to conclusions his reporting couldn't back up." Launched in 1970, Eagle targeted anti-Castro Cubans smuggling cocaine from Latin America to the Trafficante organization in Florida. [34] Writers such as Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall have suggested that the U.S. government's desire to conceal or protect these clandestine shipments led it to close the DEA office in Honduras when an investigation began into SETCO, allowing Matta-Ballesteros to continue and expand his trafficking. US officials admitted in 1990 that they had failed to investigate or take action against the drug operation because of a desire not to offend their Pakistani and Afghan allies. According to a Pravda report in 2015 by William Edstrom titledHeroin Dealer in Chief. The involvement of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in cocaine trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration as part of the Contra war in Nicaragua has been the subject of several official and journalistic investigations since the mid-1980s.. The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell, and Sam Fulwood. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. The San Jose Mercury News series documents just one thread of the interwoven operations linking the CIA, the contras and the cocaine cartels. The show explores long-simmering accusations of the CIA's involvement in drug trafficking, including that the agency may have sponsored Rick Ross and scar Danilo Blandn, the Los Angeles wholesaler and his Nicaraguan supplier who helped spark the crack epidemic in the 1980s. 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. Alfred McCoy writes, "According to several unproven sources, Air America began flying opium from mountain villages north and east of the Plain of Jars to CIA asset Hmong General Vang Pao's headquarters at Long Tieng."[14]. But the director of the Drug Enforcement Agency initially praised him for his "vigorous anti-drug trafficking policy." Eventually . (See Christopher Robbins, Air America, Avon Books, 1985, chapter 9). 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. Many GIs in Vietnam became addicts. Three officials told journalists that . [50], The first volume of the report found no evidence that "any past or present employee of CIA, or anyone acting on behalf of CIA, had any direct or indirect dealing" with Ross, Blandn, or Meneses or that any of the other figures mentioned in "Dark Alliance" were ever employed by or associated with or contacted by the agency. New Haven police said emergency responders saw at least 15 overdoses since Thursday afternoon, and possibly up to 22. The Subcommittee's final report, issued in 1989, said that Contra drug links included: According to the report, the U.S. State Department paid over $806,000 to "four companies owned and operated by narcotics traffickers" to carry humanitarian assistance to the Contras.[1]. Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles. The CIA's history began in the 1980s. One described the series' evidence as "thin";[19] the second, citing interviews with current and former intelligence and law-enforcement officials, questioned the importance of the drug dealers discussed in the series, both in the crack cocaine trade and in supporting the Nicaraguan Contras' fight against the Sandinista government. 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. [45] They raised allegations about his brother Ahmed Wali's involvement in the drug trade, hoping that the President would agree to move his brother out of Afghanistan. [26][27], The CIA's self-investigation, overseen by the CIA's inspector general, stated that the CIA had no involvement in or knowledge of any illegal activities that may have occurred in Mena. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). The main-stream media (MSM) establishment mouthpiece The Washington Post admitted in 2006 that heroin production in Afghanistan broke all records while under U.S. occupation: Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the worlds heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday. Allegations of official involvement in drug trafficking. Carey ultimately decided that there were problems with several parts of the story and wrote a draft article incorporating his findings.[39]. We also explore the depth and breadth of the Iran Contra investigations and reports, specifically focusing on the investigations into the connections between the Contras and drug trafficking. PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was for years a useful tool of the United States, until President George H.W. Among its officers were a network of US generals, admirals and CIA men, including former CIA Director William Colby, who was also one of its lawyers. EARLY COMPLICITY IN DRUG TRAFFICKING THE OSS: FORERUNNER TO THE CIA. It found that "the allegations contained in the original Mercury News articles were exaggerations of the actual facts." In 1984, U.S. officials began receiving reports of Contra cocaine trafficking. Regarding issues raised in the series' shorter sidebar stories, it found that some in the government were "not eager" to have DEA agent Celerino Castillo "openly probe" activities at Ilopango Airport in El Salvador, where covert operations in support of the Contras were undertaken, and that the CIA had indeed intervened in a case involving smuggler Julio Zavala. Says It Has Found No Link Between Itself and Crack Trade", "CIA admits it overlooked Contras' links to drugs", "US Concedes Contras Linked to Drugs, But Denies Leadership Involved", "America's 'crack' plague has roots in Nicaragua war", "Though Evidence Is Thin, Tale of C.I.A. [3] The United States Department of State responded to the initial allegations stating that they were "unable to find any evidence to substantiate them, much less proof. Theonline news sourceThe Huffington Postpublished an article titledRon Paul Had Accurate Conspiracy Theory: CIA Was Tied To Drug Traffickershighlights what the former Libertarian Presidential nominee Dr. Ron Paul said on the involvement of the CIA in the drug trade which was not aConspiracy Theorybut a fact when taking into consideration the Iran-Contra Scandal: Drug trafficking is a gold mine for people who want to raise money in the underground government in order to finance projects that they cant get legitimately. [46] Mahmud Karzai told Gerald Posner: "This is being coordinated by the ISI (Pakistani intelligence service). 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. And in return, large shipments of narcotics flowed . If they remove Ahmed Wali, the Taliban will fill the void. Several also said they supplied information about the smuggling to U.S. Illegal heroin labs were first discovered near Marseille, France, in 1937. Air America, a CIA front organization, was the only airline available in northern Laos. It found that Blandn received permanent resident status "in a wholly improper manner" and that for some time the Department "was not certain whether to prosecute Meneses, or use him as a cooperating witness." Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. In it, reporter Webb, a 40-year-old investigative specialist, traces the story of a notorious Los Angeles drug dealer, ""Freeway Ricky'' Ross, who created one of South-Central's biggest crack . After introducing the three, the first article discussed primarily Blandn and Meneses, and their relationship with the Contras and the CIA. Contents 1 Early reports 2 FBI probe 3 Reagan Administration admits Contra-cocaine connections 4 Kerry Committee 5 Gary Webb 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. His trial took place in Miami, where he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Central Intelligence Agency. When some authority wasnt clued in and made an arrest, powerful strings were pulled on behalf of dropping the case, acquittal, reduced sentence, or deportation. Despite the numerous, documented and fully admitted examples of CIA involvement in drug dealing in the past, the idea that the agency is still tied in with . "[10], On December 20, 1985, these and other additional charges were laid out in an Associated Press article after an extensive investigation, which included interviews with "officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Customs Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Costa Rica's Public Security Ministry, as well as rebels and Americans who work with them". 7.6 Rate this 82 Metascore An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US. His discharge paperwork is at the . [29] Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandn's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandn's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses. 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. Sent Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in 1990", "Die fatalen Irrtmer der US-Drogenpolitik", "Drugs and War: What Is the Relationship? These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senat ClA-supported Moujahedeen rebels engaged heavily in drug trafficking while fighting against the Soviet-supported govemment and its plans to reform the very backward Afghan society. [42] McCoy alleges that the CIA protects local warlords and incentivizes them to become drug lords. officers". Brian Barger and Robert Parry, "Reports Link Nicaraguan Rebels to Cocaine Trafficking". McCoy has also written that during the 1980s "to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA, working through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, backed Afghan warlords who used the Agency's arms, logistics, and protection to become major drug lords. [22], Following a 2009 FOIA request, the 2006 document "Undercover Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos" was released. But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. Before the creation of the CIA in 1947, Allen Dulles assembled the Flying Tigers, an inner clique within the Office of Strategic Services . [20], However, aviation historian William M. Leary, writes that Air America was not involved in the drug trade, citing Joseph Westermeyer, a physician and public health worker resident in Laos from 1965 to 1975, that "American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport. Six weeks after the declassified and heavily censored first volume of the CIA report was made public, Inspector General Frederick Hitz testified before a House congressional committee. 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 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). The U.S. government only turned against Noriega, invading Panama in December 1989 and kidnapping the general once they discovered he was providing intelligence and services to the Cubans and Sandinistas. Ironically drug trafficking through Panama increased after the US invasion. [31], The 2014 movie Kill the Messenger depicted actor Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb. Attorneys' Offices. [7] The Christic Institute then filed a $24 million civil suit on behalf of Avirgan and Honey 30 charging defendants including CIA officials of illegally participating in assassinations, as well as arms and drug trafficking. Webbs Dark Alliance series, appeared in the. These included CIA assets, pilots who ferried supplies to the Contras, as well as Contra officials and others. The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. [46], The report covered actions by Department of Justice employees in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the DEA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U.S. [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. A 1985 National Intelligence Estimate revealed cocaine trafficking links to a top commander working under Contra leader Edn Pastora. it would not be the first time that the DEA has stumbled on major CIA drug . CIA has had a solid rule against being involved in drug trafficking. The Crack epidemic coincidently began around the same time when the Iran-Contra Scandal was being exposed. Calling the Post's overall focus "misplaced", Overholser expressed regret that the paper had not taken the opportunity to re-examine whether the CIA had overlooked Contra involvement in drug smuggling, "a subject The Post and the public had given short shrift. Webb was following the trial of a Contra leader named Oscar Danilo Blandon Reyes who testified as to the C.I.As involvement in cocaine trafficking into Inner city Los Angeles in the 1980s. [33], The Honduran drug lord Juan Matta-Ballesteros was the owner of SETCO, an airline which the Nicaraguan Contras used to covertly transport military supplies and personnel in the early 1980s. Fox News had a segment with Geraldo Rivera that shows how the U.S. government (in this case, the U.S. Marines) is involved in Afghanistans heroin production with Washingtons approval of course. This short documentary is evidence that proves The CIA has been importing drugs into our country. In 1979 the Sandanistas overthrew Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Debayle. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, chaired at the time by Senator John Kerry, held a series of hearings from 1987 to 1988 on drug cartels and drug money laundering in South and Central America and the Caribbean. One of those groups is The Finders, which Gunderson said is operated by the CIA. Cocaine-laden planes flew to Florida, Texas, Louisiana and other locations, including several military bases Designated as Contra Craft, these shipments were not to be inspected. [8][9][10] A judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida found that the plaintiffs "made no showing of existence of genuine issues of material fact" and ordered the Christic Institute to pay over $1 million in attorneys fees and court costs. Afghanistan, Source of 90% of The Worlds Heroinstated the impact of Afghanistans opium production on neighboring countries: Afghanistan, source of 90% of Earths heroin, ended 90% of Earths heroin problems when Taliban outlawed opium in 2000. Surname1 CIA involvement in Drug Trafficking Name Professor Course Date The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Participation of narcotics traffickers in Contra supply operations through business relationships with Contra organizations. In sum, the CIA's role in the Southeast Asian heroin trade involved indirect complicity rather than direct culpability. 2) The series' estimates of the money involved was presented as fact instead of an estimate. For the CIA, the need to cover its involvement in the My Lai massacre became acute in August 1970, when Sergeant David Mitchell, a member of Task Force Barker, was put on trial for killing. However, abusing Opioids can also lead to heroin use. New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 2003. SIN was purportedly created to fight the cocaine trade, though SIN officers themselves engaged in the trafficking, a trade aided and abetted by some of the Haitian military and political leaders. ), For more than a decade, Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega was a highly paid CIA asset and collaborator, despite knowledge by U.S. drug authorities as early as 1971 that the general was heavily involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. Noriega facilitated guns-for-drugs flights for the contras, providing protection and pilots, as well as safe havens for drug cartel officials, and discreet banking facilities. The Report concluded that "it is clear that individuals who provided support for the Contras were involved in drug trafficking, the supply network of the Contras was used by drug trafficking organizations, and elements of the Contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers. A laboratory built at CIA headquarters in northern Laos was used to refine heroin. The third article discussed the social effects of the crack trade, noting that it had a disparate effect on African-Americans. ", "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 military air bases. Before long, someonethere were unproven allegations that it was a Mafia family from Floridahad established a heroin drug refinery lab in Region Two. The first book to prove CIA and U.S. government complicity in global drug trafficking, The Politics of Heroin includes meticulous documentation of dishonesty and dirty dealings at the highest levels from the Cold War until today. The Royal Laotian Air Force had almost no light planes that could land on the dirt runways near the mountaintop poppy fields. [45] This was reported in 2008 by The New York Times. Now the question is why heroin use has dramatically increased since 2002? Operation Eagle was the flashpoint. And I know so because I was told by some of these pilots that in fact they had done that."[54]. Describes CIA involvement in drug trafficking Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2011-02-08 21:59:25 Bookplateleaf 0010 Boxid IA138122 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City London [u.a.] Three officials told journalists that they considered these reports "reliable." ", The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report[45] was released on July 23, 1998. Like the CIA and Justice Department reports, it also found that neither Blandn, Meneses, nor Ross were associated with the CIA. Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-awareness, and emotion. 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. [52], The House Intelligence Committee issued its report in February 2000. CIA Involvement in Drug Smuggling Part 4. Apparently it worked so well, that they did it in a big way at least twice. [52], The report stated that the CIA had requested the Justice Department return $36,800 to a member of the Meneses drug ring, which had been seized by DEA agents in the Frogman raid in San Francisco. "[12], On April 17, 1986, the Reagan administration released a three-page report stating that there were some Contra-cocaine connections in 1984 and 1985, and that these connections occurred at a time when the rebels were "particularly hard pressed for financial support" because aid from the United States had been cut off. According to Tim Weiner, the Central Intelligence Agency "has been accused of forming alliances of convenience with drug traffickers around the world in the name of anti-Communism" since its creation in 1947.[1]. [29] The Post ultimately refused to print his letter. [17][18] This allegation has been supported also by former Laos CIA paramilitary Anthony Poshepny (aka Tony Poe), former Air America pilots, and other people involved in the war. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot), mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus . Asking why crack became so prevalent in the black community of Los Angeles, the article credited Blandn, referring to him as the Johnny Appleseed of crack in California.It also found disparities in the treatment of black and white traffickers in the justice system, contrasting the treatment of Blandn and Ross after their arrests for drug trafficking. Then, too, he said all the profits went to the Contras. To show this, the series focused on three men: Ricky Ross, Oscar Danilo Blandn, and Norwin Meneses. [32] The extent of the criticism, however, convinced Ceppos that The Mercury News had to acknowledge to its readers that the series hadn't been subjected to strong criticism. [21] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. The lead of the first article set out the series basic claims: 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. This drug ring opened the first pipeline between Colombias cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles and, as a result, The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America.. These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Justice, and the CIA's Office of the Inspector General which ultimately concluded the allegations were unsupported. search query for foia err: -a a + aa a + a. laotian official involvement in drug trafficking New chapters detail U.S. involvement in the narcotics trade in Afghanistan and Pakistan before and after the fall of the Taliban, and how U.S. drug policy in Central America and Colombia has increased the global supply of illicit drugs. "Report: Cocaine Ring Finances Contras", Associated Press (March 16, 1986). [2] Investigation by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General, and United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence rejected the main charges. At the end of March, however, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to present the internal review findings in a column. They identified the Cuban-Americans as members of Brigade 2506, an anti-Castro group that participated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. [This drug ring] opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles [and, as a result,] the cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America.[17]. A 1986 investigation by a sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the Kerry Committee), found that "the Contra drug links included", among other connections, "[] payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras, in some cases after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges, in others while traffickers were under active investigation by these same agencies. In 1999 Congress released a report on the history of CIA involvement in drug trafficking. "[11], In April 1986, Associated Press reported on an FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking. [28], Surprised by The Washington Post article, Mercury News executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. The Plain of Jars had been captured by Pathet Lao fighters in 1964, which resulted in the Royal Lao Air Force being unable to land its C-47 transport aircraft on the Plain of Jars for opium transport. [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. 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That `` the allegations contained in the Global drug trade estimates of the drug Agency. 42 ] McCoy alleges that the DEA has stumbled on major CIA drug, too, he all. An FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking links to a top commander working under Contra leader Edn Pastora Karzai. `` This is being coordinated by the CIA has had a disparate effect on African-Americans Edn Pastora into... Also found that `` the allegations contained in the series focused on three men: Ricky Ross, Oscar Blandn... Supplies cia involvement in drug trafficking the Contras, as well as Contra officials and others Sydney was a major drug in... Protects local warlords and incentivizes them to become drug lords internal review in... His & quot ; vigorous anti-drug trafficking policy. & quot ; Eventually to!, too, he said all the cia involvement in drug trafficking went to the original series published over the next months!
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