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." 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. [51], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. 
Web0:00 / 31:14 Intro Summary The CIA & DRUG TRAFFICKING | Everything You NEED to KNOW Joshua Roberts 64.6K subscribers 156K views 1 year ago #pabloescobar #cia [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. 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. ", "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. 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. 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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unchanged. ), 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. Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. When some authority wasnt apprised and made an arrest, powerful strings were pulled to result in dropping the case, acquittal, reduced sentence, or deportation. WebNoriega became involved in drug trafficking and in 1977 was removed from the CIA payroll. Participation of narcotics traffickers in Contra supply operations through business relationships with Contra organizations. DEA agent Enrique `Kiki' Camerena is kidnapped and murder in Mexico. 
The agency was aware of trafficking, and (in some cases) dissuaded the DEA and other agencies from investigating the Contra supply networks involved. 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. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). 
In 1974, Sicilia's top aide, Jose Egozi, a CIA-trained intelligence officer and Bay of Pigs veteran, reportedly lined up agency support for a right-wing plot to overthrow the Portuguese government. CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrest control of labor unions from the Communist Party. [2][3][4] The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post launched their own investigations and rejected Webb's allegations. WebDrug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. 
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. 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. (The most comprehensive allegations were reported by Gary Webb in a series of San Jose Mercury News reports and a book entitled "Dark Alliance.") Webb resigned from the paper shortly thereafter. Matta was extradited to the United States in 1988 and convicted on drug trafficking charges. WebThe 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. Police ruled it a suicide. WebThe involvement of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in cocaine trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration as part of the Contra Senior U S policy makers were nit immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras funding problems. (Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy, a Report of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and Intemational Operations, 1989). Web"America's War on Drugs" is an immersive trip through the last five decades, uncovering how the CIA, obsessed with keeping America safe in the fight against communism, allied itself with the mafia and foreign drug traffickers. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. 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. The subcommittee found that `there was substantial evidence of drug smuggling through the war zone on the part of individuals Contras, Contra suppliers, Contra pilots, mercenaries who worked with the Contras supporters throughout the region.' In 2004, Webb was found dead at the age of 49 from two gunshot wounds to the head. Drug use among Vietnam soldiers was [33] He did this in a column that appeared on November 3, defending the series, but also committing the paper to a review of major criticisms. But in 2000, a #CIA report produced for Congress claimed the #KLA had disarmed, disbanded, and reformed into a friendly civil defense organization. In 1986, the 
When Senate investigators later asked the Justice Department to explain this unusual turn of events, they ran into a wall of secrecy. It only concluded that the State Department gave money to companies with the intent of helping the Contras that were involved in drug trafficking. 
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." WebFor 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 U.S. 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. Many in the media have also postulated that any drug-trafficking contras involved were rogue elements, not supported by the CIA. Provision of assistance to the Contras by narcotics traffickers, including cash, weapons, planes, pilots, air supply services and other materials, on a voluntary basis by the traffickers. [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." American officials say illicit fentanyl from labs in Mexico is driving a surge in overdose deaths. WebThe CIA was totally not involved in drug trafficking, I swear! While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients drug trafficking. 
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. Although Norwin Meneses is listed in DEA computers as a major international drug smuggler implicated in 45 separate federal investigations since 1974, he lived conspicuously in California until 1989 and was never arrested in the U.S. Senate investigators and agents from four organizations all complained that their contra-drug investigations were hampered, Webb wrote, by the CIA or unnamed national security interests. In the 1984 Frogman Case, for instance, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco returned $36,800 seized from a Nicaraguan drug dealer after two contra leaders sent letters to the court arguing that the cash was intended for the contras. The Mercury News Web page, with supporting documents and updates, received hundreds of thousands of hits a day. According to the report's "Epilogue", the report was completed in December 1997 but was not released because the DEA was still attempting to use Danilo Blandn in an investigation of international drug dealers and was concerned that the report would affect the viability of the investigation. [41] After discussions with Webb, the column was published on May 11, 1997. 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. It was accompanied by a heavy-handed picture of a man smoking crack under the CIA seal. In fact, the 25-year DEA veteran maintains the agency actively abetted cocaine trafficking in Bolivia, where government official who sought to combat traffickers faced `torture and death at the hands of CIA-sponsored paramilitary terrorists under the command of fugitive Nazi war criminal (also protected by the CIA) Klaus Barbie. You have reached your limit of free articles. The CIA attempts to quash the book. The DEA did nothing, and Castillo was gradually forced out of the agency. 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 Costa Rica, which served as the Southern Front for the contras (Honduras being the Northern Front), there were several CIA-contra networks involved in drug trafficking. While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients' drug trafficking. 
[27] McManus found Blandn and Meneses's financial contributions to Contra organizations to be significantly less than the "millions" claimed in Webb's series, and no evidence that the CIA had tried to protect them. Attorneys' Offices. In 1997, the Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos backed away from the story, calling it flawed in an editorial. In the interviews, some covering several days and being conducted in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and California, several of the Contra backers told AP of firsthand knowledge of cocaine trafficking. However, during the Contra era, CIA worked with a variety of people to support the Contra program. 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. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received U.S. government contracts to carry nonlethal supplies to the contras. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. [5] Based on a year-long investigation, reporter Gary Webb wrote that during the 1980s the CIA helped finance its covert war against Nicaragua's leftist government through sales of cut-rate cocaine to South Central L.A. drug dealer, Ricky Ross. WebIn 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. SINs mandate included countering the cocaine trade, though SIN officers themselves engaged in trafficking, a trade aided and abetted by some Haitian military and political leaders. CIA Director John Deutch declared that he found no connection whatsoever between the CIA and cocaine traffickers. The CIAs drug network, wrote Webb, opened the first pipeline between Colombias cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the crack capital of the world. Black gangs used their profits to buy automatic weapons, sometimes from one of the CIA-linked drug dealers. `I guess we're all aware that they [the CIA] do business in a different way than everybody else,' the judge notes. by LostKingOfPortugal. (See Jonathan Kwitny, The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money and the CIA, W.W. Norton & Co., 1 987. A 1998, a CIA inspector generals report denied any ties between the U.S. government and the drug dealers Webb named in his articles and book, but ultimately confirmed Webbs thesis that the CIA had worked with contras despite drug-dealing allegations against them. Magazines, Digital 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. [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. In 1976, CIA Director George Bush pays Noriega $110,000 for his services, even though as early as 1971 U.S. officials agents had evidence that he was deeply involved in drug trafficking. Like the CIA and Justice Department reports, it also found that neither Blandn, Meneses, nor Ross were associated with the CIA. "[44], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. . The CIA launches Project Bluebird to determine whether certain drugs might improve its interrogation methods. The series alleged that the three had relationships with the Contras and the CIA, and that law enforcement agencies failed to successfully prosecute them largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. [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]. 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. "[59] It also found no evidence to support Webb's suggestion that several other drug smugglers mentioned in the series were associated with the CIA, or that anyone associated with the CIA or other intelligence agencies was involved in supplying or selling drugs in Los Angeles.[59]. The fact that some Nicaraguan rebels were involved in drug trafficking has been known for a decade. They also note that neither Ross nor the gangs were the first or sole distributors of crack in L.A. Webb, however, did not claim this. Webb conducted a year-long investigation during which he discovered that a San Francisco-based drug ring, which had ties to a CIA-sponsored Nicaraguan contra group called the FDN, sold cocaine to a dealer in South Central Los Angeles. _uacct = "UA-3263347-1"; WebThe 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 U.S. officials, the subcommittee said, `failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua.' 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. The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell, and Sam Fulwood. [48] The second volume, "The Contra Story," was issued in a classified version on April 27, 1998, and in an unclassified version on October 8, 1998. 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. WebThis entry gives information on the five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. [31], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. Despite some hyped phrasing, 'Dark Alliance' appears to be praiseworthy investigative reporting."[37]. By this time, U.S. Senate investigators had found that `the United States had received substantial information about criminal involvement of top Panamanian officials for nearly twenty years and done little to respond. CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. The CIAs history began in the 1980s. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Marseilles first heroin laboratories were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. 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. 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. First recruited by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in 1959, Noriega becomes an invaluable asset for the CIA when he takes charge of Panama's intelligence service after the 1968 military coup, providing services for U.S. covert operations and facilitating the use of Panama as the center of U.S. intelligence gathering in Latin America. 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. Documentation of Official U.S. With benign names such as Project Artichoke and Project Chatter, these projects continue through the 1960s, with hundreds of unwitting test subjects given various drugs, including LSD. 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. [6] "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. Ricky Ross claims to this day to have been provided with cocaine by the CIA, but is this true? Another Costa Rican-based drug ring involved a group of Cuban Amencans whom the CIA had hired as military trainers for the contras. 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. [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." Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor Dale Scott, journalists Gary Webb and Alexander Cockburn, and writer Larry Collins. 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. Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, [13] The report said: "We have evidence of a limited number of incidents in which known drug traffickers have tried to establish connections with Nicaraguan resistance groups" and that the drug activity took place "without the authorization of resistance leaders."[13]. . We believe that Cuban involvement in drug trafficking may help to promote Cuban political objec- tives in the Western Hemisphere. When he became de facto dictator of Panama in 1984, little changed. Their silence not only serves to maintain public support for the Mujahedeen, it also smooths relations with Pakistan, whose leaders, deeply implicated in the heroin trade, help channel CIA support to the Afghan rebels. In 1985, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Celerino Castillo reported to his superiors that cocaine was being stored at the CIAs contra-supply warehouse at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador for shipment to the U.S. The first one, "The California Story", was issued in a classified version on December 17, 1997, and in an unclassified version on January 29, 1998. 
At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US govemment contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. 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. [52], The House Intelligence Committee issued its report in February 2000. 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. : "http://www. copyright owner. The Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney was a CIA bank in all but name. [24], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. The CIA also recruits members of organized crime gangs in Japan to help ensure that the country stays in the non-communist world. During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. A CIA informant on narcotics trafficking in northern Thailand, he claims that agency had full knowledge Despite the dramatic rise of heroin production, the agency's relations with these figures attracts little attention until the early 1970s. GlobalResearch Center for Research on Globalization. A 1996 Peter Dale Scott affidavit on CIA drugs trafficking explained his research into longstanding US government involvement. All Rights Reserved. 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 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]. Global Research Notre site en Franais: mondialisation.ca. . (However, he also noted that Webb disagreed with him on this point.). They, in turn, had long dominated the drug traffic in the area of north-east Afghanistan that they controlled during the Taliban years. WebThe United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in 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. Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com. Additionally, the Medelln 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.>. "[52], The report also stated that former DEA agent Celerino Castillo alleged that during the 1980s, Ilopango Airport in El Salvador was used by Contras for drug smuggling flights, and "his attempts to investigate Contra drug smuggling were stymied by DEA management, the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, and the CIA". 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. Matta was a major figure in the Colombian cartel and was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. By 1972, the KMT controls 80 percent of the Golden Triangle's opium trade. Spadafora was later found murdered. But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine. Let me be frank about what we are finding. 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) Shortly after, a letter from CIA headquarters is sent to the judge, and the case is dismissed. In a scene from the new movie Kill the Messenger, investigative reporter Gary Webb (played by Jeremy Renner) says that he doesnt believe in conspiracy theories. "[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. This eventually leads CIA head Allen Dulles, in April 1953, to institute a program for `covert use of biological and chemical materials' as part of the agency's continuing efforts to control behavior. 
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Web0:00 / 31:14 Intro Summary The CIA & DRUG TRAFFICKING | Everything You NEED to KNOW Joshua Roberts 64.6K subscribers 156K views 1 year ago #pabloescobar #cia [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. 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. ", "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. 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. 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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unchanged. ), 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. Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. When some authority wasnt apprised and made an arrest, powerful strings were pulled to result in dropping the case, acquittal, reduced sentence, or deportation. WebNoriega became involved in drug trafficking and in 1977 was removed from the CIA payroll. Participation of narcotics traffickers in Contra supply operations through business relationships with Contra organizations. DEA agent Enrique `Kiki' Camerena is kidnapped and murder in Mexico. The agency was aware of trafficking, and (in some cases) dissuaded the DEA and other agencies from investigating the Contra supply networks involved. 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. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). In 1974, Sicilia's top aide, Jose Egozi, a CIA-trained intelligence officer and Bay of Pigs veteran, reportedly lined up agency support for a right-wing plot to overthrow the Portuguese government. CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrest control of labor unions from the Communist Party. [2][3][4] The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post launched their own investigations and rejected Webb's allegations. WebDrug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. 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. 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. (The most comprehensive allegations were reported by Gary Webb in a series of San Jose Mercury News reports and a book entitled "Dark Alliance.") Webb resigned from the paper shortly thereafter. Matta was extradited to the United States in 1988 and convicted on drug trafficking charges. WebThe 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. Police ruled it a suicide. WebThe involvement of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in cocaine trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration as part of the Contra Senior U S policy makers were nit immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras funding problems. (Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy, a Report of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and Intemational Operations, 1989). Web"America's War on Drugs" is an immersive trip through the last five decades, uncovering how the CIA, obsessed with keeping America safe in the fight against communism, allied itself with the mafia and foreign drug traffickers. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. 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. The subcommittee found that `there was substantial evidence of drug smuggling through the war zone on the part of individuals Contras, Contra suppliers, Contra pilots, mercenaries who worked with the Contras supporters throughout the region.' In 2004, Webb was found dead at the age of 49 from two gunshot wounds to the head. Drug use among Vietnam soldiers was [33] He did this in a column that appeared on November 3, defending the series, but also committing the paper to a review of major criticisms. But in 2000, a #CIA report produced for Congress claimed the #KLA had disarmed, disbanded, and reformed into a friendly civil defense organization. In 1986, the When Senate investigators later asked the Justice Department to explain this unusual turn of events, they ran into a wall of secrecy. It only concluded that the State Department gave money to companies with the intent of helping the Contras that were involved in drug trafficking. 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." WebFor 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 U.S. 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. Many in the media have also postulated that any drug-trafficking contras involved were rogue elements, not supported by the CIA. Provision of assistance to the Contras by narcotics traffickers, including cash, weapons, planes, pilots, air supply services and other materials, on a voluntary basis by the traffickers. [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." American officials say illicit fentanyl from labs in Mexico is driving a surge in overdose deaths. WebThe CIA was totally not involved in drug trafficking, I swear! While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients drug trafficking. 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. Although Norwin Meneses is listed in DEA computers as a major international drug smuggler implicated in 45 separate federal investigations since 1974, he lived conspicuously in California until 1989 and was never arrested in the U.S. Senate investigators and agents from four organizations all complained that their contra-drug investigations were hampered, Webb wrote, by the CIA or unnamed national security interests. In the 1984 Frogman Case, for instance, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco returned $36,800 seized from a Nicaraguan drug dealer after two contra leaders sent letters to the court arguing that the cash was intended for the contras. The Mercury News Web page, with supporting documents and updates, received hundreds of thousands of hits a day. According to the report's "Epilogue", the report was completed in December 1997 but was not released because the DEA was still attempting to use Danilo Blandn in an investigation of international drug dealers and was concerned that the report would affect the viability of the investigation. [41] After discussions with Webb, the column was published on May 11, 1997. 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. It was accompanied by a heavy-handed picture of a man smoking crack under the CIA seal. In fact, the 25-year DEA veteran maintains the agency actively abetted cocaine trafficking in Bolivia, where government official who sought to combat traffickers faced `torture and death at the hands of CIA-sponsored paramilitary terrorists under the command of fugitive Nazi war criminal (also protected by the CIA) Klaus Barbie. You have reached your limit of free articles. The CIA attempts to quash the book. The DEA did nothing, and Castillo was gradually forced out of the agency. 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 Costa Rica, which served as the Southern Front for the contras (Honduras being the Northern Front), there were several CIA-contra networks involved in drug trafficking. While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients' drug trafficking. [27] McManus found Blandn and Meneses's financial contributions to Contra organizations to be significantly less than the "millions" claimed in Webb's series, and no evidence that the CIA had tried to protect them. Attorneys' Offices. In 1997, the Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos backed away from the story, calling it flawed in an editorial. In the interviews, some covering several days and being conducted in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and California, several of the Contra backers told AP of firsthand knowledge of cocaine trafficking. However, during the Contra era, CIA worked with a variety of people to support the Contra program. 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. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received U.S. government contracts to carry nonlethal supplies to the contras. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. [5] Based on a year-long investigation, reporter Gary Webb wrote that during the 1980s the CIA helped finance its covert war against Nicaragua's leftist government through sales of cut-rate cocaine to South Central L.A. drug dealer, Ricky Ross. WebIn 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. SINs mandate included countering the cocaine trade, though SIN officers themselves engaged in trafficking, a trade aided and abetted by some Haitian military and political leaders. CIA Director John Deutch declared that he found no connection whatsoever between the CIA and cocaine traffickers. The CIAs drug network, wrote Webb, opened the first pipeline between Colombias cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the crack capital of the world. Black gangs used their profits to buy automatic weapons, sometimes from one of the CIA-linked drug dealers. `I guess we're all aware that they [the CIA] do business in a different way than everybody else,' the judge notes. by LostKingOfPortugal. (See Jonathan Kwitny, The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money and the CIA, W.W. Norton & Co., 1 987. A 1998, a CIA inspector generals report denied any ties between the U.S. government and the drug dealers Webb named in his articles and book, but ultimately confirmed Webbs thesis that the CIA had worked with contras despite drug-dealing allegations against them. Magazines, Digital 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. [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. In 1976, CIA Director George Bush pays Noriega $110,000 for his services, even though as early as 1971 U.S. officials agents had evidence that he was deeply involved in drug trafficking. Like the CIA and Justice Department reports, it also found that neither Blandn, Meneses, nor Ross were associated with the CIA. "[44], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. . The CIA launches Project Bluebird to determine whether certain drugs might improve its interrogation methods. The series alleged that the three had relationships with the Contras and the CIA, and that law enforcement agencies failed to successfully prosecute them largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. [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]. 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. "[59] It also found no evidence to support Webb's suggestion that several other drug smugglers mentioned in the series were associated with the CIA, or that anyone associated with the CIA or other intelligence agencies was involved in supplying or selling drugs in Los Angeles.[59]. The fact that some Nicaraguan rebels were involved in drug trafficking has been known for a decade. They also note that neither Ross nor the gangs were the first or sole distributors of crack in L.A. Webb, however, did not claim this. Webb conducted a year-long investigation during which he discovered that a San Francisco-based drug ring, which had ties to a CIA-sponsored Nicaraguan contra group called the FDN, sold cocaine to a dealer in South Central Los Angeles. _uacct = "UA-3263347-1"; WebThe 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 U.S. officials, the subcommittee said, `failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua.' 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. The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell, and Sam Fulwood. [48] The second volume, "The Contra Story," was issued in a classified version on April 27, 1998, and in an unclassified version on October 8, 1998. 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. WebThis entry gives information on the five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. [31], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. Despite some hyped phrasing, 'Dark Alliance' appears to be praiseworthy investigative reporting."[37]. By this time, U.S. Senate investigators had found that `the United States had received substantial information about criminal involvement of top Panamanian officials for nearly twenty years and done little to respond. CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. The CIAs history began in the 1980s. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Marseilles first heroin laboratories were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. 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. 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. First recruited by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in 1959, Noriega becomes an invaluable asset for the CIA when he takes charge of Panama's intelligence service after the 1968 military coup, providing services for U.S. covert operations and facilitating the use of Panama as the center of U.S. intelligence gathering in Latin America. 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. Documentation of Official U.S. With benign names such as Project Artichoke and Project Chatter, these projects continue through the 1960s, with hundreds of unwitting test subjects given various drugs, including LSD. 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. [6] "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. Ricky Ross claims to this day to have been provided with cocaine by the CIA, but is this true? Another Costa Rican-based drug ring involved a group of Cuban Amencans whom the CIA had hired as military trainers for the contras. 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. [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." Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor Dale Scott, journalists Gary Webb and Alexander Cockburn, and writer Larry Collins. 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. Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, [13] The report said: "We have evidence of a limited number of incidents in which known drug traffickers have tried to establish connections with Nicaraguan resistance groups" and that the drug activity took place "without the authorization of resistance leaders."[13]. . We believe that Cuban involvement in drug trafficking may help to promote Cuban political objec- tives in the Western Hemisphere. When he became de facto dictator of Panama in 1984, little changed. Their silence not only serves to maintain public support for the Mujahedeen, it also smooths relations with Pakistan, whose leaders, deeply implicated in the heroin trade, help channel CIA support to the Afghan rebels. In 1985, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Celerino Castillo reported to his superiors that cocaine was being stored at the CIAs contra-supply warehouse at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador for shipment to the U.S. The first one, "The California Story", was issued in a classified version on December 17, 1997, and in an unclassified version on January 29, 1998. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US govemment contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. 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. [52], The House Intelligence Committee issued its report in February 2000. 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. : "http://www. copyright owner. The Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney was a CIA bank in all but name. [24], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. The CIA also recruits members of organized crime gangs in Japan to help ensure that the country stays in the non-communist world. During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. A CIA informant on narcotics trafficking in northern Thailand, he claims that agency had full knowledge Despite the dramatic rise of heroin production, the agency's relations with these figures attracts little attention until the early 1970s. GlobalResearch Center for Research on Globalization. A 1996 Peter Dale Scott affidavit on CIA drugs trafficking explained his research into longstanding US government involvement. All Rights Reserved. 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 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]. Global Research Notre site en Franais: mondialisation.ca. . (However, he also noted that Webb disagreed with him on this point.). They, in turn, had long dominated the drug traffic in the area of north-east Afghanistan that they controlled during the Taliban years. WebThe United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in 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. Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com. Additionally, the Medelln 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.>. "[52], The report also stated that former DEA agent Celerino Castillo alleged that during the 1980s, Ilopango Airport in El Salvador was used by Contras for drug smuggling flights, and "his attempts to investigate Contra drug smuggling were stymied by DEA management, the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, and the CIA". 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. Matta was a major figure in the Colombian cartel and was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. By 1972, the KMT controls 80 percent of the Golden Triangle's opium trade. Spadafora was later found murdered. But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine. Let me be frank about what we are finding. 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) Shortly after, a letter from CIA headquarters is sent to the judge, and the case is dismissed. In a scene from the new movie Kill the Messenger, investigative reporter Gary Webb (played by Jeremy Renner) says that he doesnt believe in conspiracy theories. "[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. This eventually leads CIA head Allen Dulles, in April 1953, to institute a program for `covert use of biological and chemical materials' as part of the agency's continuing efforts to control behavior. The review was conducted primarily by editor Jonathan Krim and reporter Pete Carey, who had written the paper's first published analysis of the series. Brian Barger and Robert Parry, "Reports Link Nicaraguan Rebels to Cocaine Trafficking". [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. 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