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. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. [53], During a PBS Frontline investigation, DEA field agent Hector Berrellez said, "I believe that elements working for the CIA were involved in bringing drugs into the country. 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. urchinTracker(). Matta was extradited to the United States in 1988 and convicted on drug trafficking charges. Domestically, the aim is to prevent sabotage on East Coast ports, while in Italy the goal is to gain intelligence on Sicily prior to the allied invasions and to suppress the burgeoning Italian Communist Party. It noted that Blandn and Meneses claimed to have donated money to Contra sympathizers in Los Angeles, but found no information to confirm that it was true or that the agency had heard of it. In 1986, the and Drugs Has a Life of Its Own", "Los Angeles Sherrif's Department Inquiry Findings", "Pivotal Figures of Newspaper Series May Be Only Bit Players", "Tracking the Genesis of the Crack Trade", "Examining Charges of CIA Role in Crack Sales", "History Fuels Outrage Over Crack Allegations", "Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos' Letter to the Washington Post", "Washington Post response to Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos", "Despite critics, a good story Crack and the contras", "To readers of our 'Dark Alliance' series", "THE CIA-CONTRA-CRACK COCAINE CONTROVERSY: A REVIEW OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Epilogue", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Conclusions", Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General, "Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General Report of Investigation Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States (96-0143-IG) Volume I: The California Story", "Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General Report of Investigation Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States (96-0143-IG) Volume II: The Contra Story", "Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. Southern Air Transport, WebAt least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received U.S. government contracts to carry nonlethal supplies to the contras. 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. Marseilles first heroin laboratories were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront.
Each is closely examined in terms of their relationship with CIA, the drug trafficking activity that was alleged, the actions CIA took in response to the allegations, and the extent of information concerning the allegations that was Shared with U.S. law enforcement and Congress. [2][3][4] The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post launched their own investigations and rejected Webb's allegations. CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. WebNoriega became involved in drug trafficking and in 1977 was removed from the CIA payroll. Five American Contra supporters who worked with the rebels confirmed the charges, noting that "two Cuban-Americans used armed rebel troops to guard cocaine at clandestine airfields in northern Costa Rica. DEA, FBI and U.S. Customs Service investigators accuse the CIA of stonewalling during their investigation. In a follow up letter later Smith stated "I have been advised that a question arose regarding the need to add all narcotics violations to the list of "non-employee" crimes". Global Research After Ceppos' column, The Mercury News spent the next several months conducting an internal review of the story. [30] Ceppos also asked reporter Pete Carey to write a critique of the series for publication in The Mercury News, and had the controversial website artwork changed. Because the CIA believed Miranda was in the United States The Contras were financed through drug WebThe CIA has been one of the worlds biggest illegal drug trafficking organizations in the world for decades, a leading American analyst has warned. 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. 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. `I guess we're all aware that they [the CIA] do business in a different way than everybody else,' the judge notes. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. WebThe U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War led to a boost in heroin being smuggled into the United States between the years 1965-1970. ", Many follow-ups to the original series published over the next three months are in the series archive at. WebIn the 1980s, the CIA was involved in supporting the Contras, a rebel group fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. 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. Matta was a major figure in the Colombian cartel and was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. This article was published in 1996 and has not been updated since. Guatemala, whose military intelligence service closely associated with the CIA harbored many drug traffickers, according to the DEA, was another way station along the cocaine highway. In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. 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. For many years, the Panamanian was on the CIA payrolldespite Washington knowing he was involved in drug trafficking since at least 1972. . 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. 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. As word about the story spread through the Internet, TV and radio, politicians took up Webbs cause. "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. Box 702, Monroe, Maine, 04951, Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page, Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Additionally, the Medellin Cartels Miami accountant, Ramon Milian Rodriguez, testified that he funneled nearly $10 million to Nicaraguan contras through long-time CIA operative Felix Rodriguez, who was based at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador. After the series' publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists had voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. When Blandn testified in a 1996 trial against Ricky Ross, the Justice Department blocked any inquiry about Blandns connection to the CIA. The charges linked the Contra trafficking to Sebastin Gonzlez Mendiola, who was charged with cocaine trafficking on November 26, 1984, in Costa Rica. Did CIA intervene or otherwise play a role in any investigative or judicial processes involving the drug trafficking activities of Ross, Blandon or Meneses? var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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. Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. 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. ), 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. (See Jonathan Kwitny, The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money and the CIA, W.W. Norton & Co., 1 987. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Noriega facilitated guns-for-drugs flights for the contras, providing protection and pilots, as well as safe havens for drug cartel otficials, and discreet banking facilities. U.S. authorities claim the CIA is more interested in protecting its assets, including top drug trafficker and kidnapping principal Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo. 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. . 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. Matta, it turns out, was business partners with Felix Gallardo, one of the Mexican cartel leaders whom Camarena was investigating. A CIA informant on narcotics trafficking in northern Thailand, he claims that agency had full knowledge PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was for years a useful tool of the United States, until President George H.W. 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. UNODC is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics. ", "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. Marseilles first heroin laboratones were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. Hull and other CIA-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. WebPayments 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 August 1996, the San Jose Mercury News initiated an extended series of articles linking the CIAs contra army to the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles. WebRuppert told the OIG that he met with FBI special agent "Buck" Sadler about CIA involvement in drug trafficking and that Sadler had, according to Ruppert, verified Ruppert's suspicions. This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 18:46. (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.) But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. Police ruled it a suicide. It only concluded that the State Department gave money to companies with the intent of helping the Contras that were involved in drug trafficking. WebCIA has had a solid rule against being involved in drug trafficking. 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. 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. During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. U.S. officials, the subcommittee said, `failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua.'
The fact that some Nicaraguan rebels were involved in drug trafficking has been known for a decade.
At the end of March, however, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to present the internal review findings in a column. 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. More than a ton of cocaine was shipped into the country with the CIA's approval as part of an undercover program aimed at catching drug smugglers, an operation kept secret from other U.S. agencies. Senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the contras funding problems.. 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. Cuban intelligence officers have Noriega facilitated guns-for-drugs flights for the contras, providing protection and pilots, safe havens for drug cartel officials, and discreet banking facilities. A 1985 National Intelligence Estimate revealed cocaine trafficking links to a top commander working under Contra leader Edn Pastora. . WebCIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking Add languages Central Intelligence Agency A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [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." The Agencys principal client was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the leading druglords and leading heroin refiner. 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Molina later admits his drug involvement was not a CIA operation, explaining that the agency protected him because of his value as a source for political intelligence in Honduras. [55][56], Also revealed was a letter between the Attorney General William French Smith and the CIA that omitted narcotics violations among the list of crimes agency officers were required to report. Webb resigned from the paper shortly thereafter. 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. In Costa Rica, which served as the Southern Front for the contras (Honduras being the Northern Front), there were several different ClA-contra networks involved in drug trafficking. Many GIs in Vietnam became addicts. : r/virginvschad. Trafficking in illicit drugs at the wholesale and retail level-which involves processing, smug- gling, and distribution-continues to be largely con- trolled by criminal organizations with international connections. WebThe 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 (see June 1985) Matta's air transport firm, SETCO, receives $186,000 from the U.S. State Department to fly `humanitarian supplies' to the Nicaraguan Contras from 1983 to 1985. The Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney was a CIA bank in all but name. 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.' [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 .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#b1d2ff}Frogman raid in San Francisco. 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.
Cocaine-laden planes flew to Florida, Texas, Louisiana and other locations, including several militarv bases Designated as Contra Craft, these shipments were not to be inspected. 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. The San Jose Mercury News series documents just one thread of the interwoven operations linking the CIA, the contras and the cocaine cartels. At the time, some 30,000 U.S. service men in Vietnam are addicted to heroin.