A Russian man accused of trying to smuggle about 900 pounds of cocaine from Argentina to Russia said the CIA was behind the massive drug-trafficking operation and that he has been set up. We highlight the testimony provided by people close to the Camarena case and the allegations of CIA involvement, and we search, to no avail, for any . 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. Air America, a CIA front organization, was the only airline available in northern Laos. ~ Narco Aggression Russia accuses the U.S. military of involvement in drug trafficking out of Afghanistan - Centre for Research on Globalization . Operation Eagle was the flashpoint. "[46] In an article for Washington Decoded, former CIA operations office Merle Pribbenow said, like claims leveled toward former South Vietnamese Lieutenant General ng Vn Quang, the allegations against Ahmed Wali Karzai appeared to be "vague rumors unsupported by solid evidence" and he cautioned readers about accepting news based solely on anonymous sources and unsubstantiated rumors. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. [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. That's not to say that some of the people who CIA has used or been in touch with over the years may well have themselves been . The Corsican Gang was protected by the CIA and the SDECE after World War II in exchange for working to prevent French Communists from bringing the Old Port of Marseille under their control.[12]. "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. "[57], This agreement, which had not previously been revealed, came at a time when there were allegations that the CIA was using drug dealers in its controversial covert operation to bring down the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. African Americans, especially in South Central Los Angeles where the dealers discussed in the series had been active, responded with outrage to the series' charges.[18][19]. The. In 1986, the Reagan Administration acknowledged that funds from cocaine smuggling helped fund the Contra rebels, but . Now the question is why heroin use has dramatically increased since 2002? 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. officers". Much of the article highlighted the failure of law enforcement agencies to successfully prosecute them and suggested that this was largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. 7 Min Read. To fight its "Secret War" against the Pathet Lao communist movement of Laos, the CIA used the Miao/Meo (Hmong) population. The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell, and Sam Fulwood. After the publication of a 1996 news article in The San Jose Mercury written by Webb, who exposed the complicity of the CIA in the L.A. crack epidemic of the 1980s, Waters called for an investigation. "[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. The Taliban banned the production of opium in 2000. The death rate could go much higher considering the increasing level of poverty in the U.S. especially in the inner cities where the highest unemployment rates is among the 18-34 year olds. General Manuel Noriega, head of Panama's government, had been giving military assistance to Contra groups in Nicaragua at the request of the U.S.which, in exchange, allowed him to continue his drug-trafficking activitieswhich they had known about since the 1960s. At least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US government contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. Former Panamanian deputy health minister Dr. Hugo Spadafora, who had fought with the Contra army, outlined charges of cocaine trafficking to a prominent Panamanian official. 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. [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. Allegations of official involvement in drug trafficking. The agency was aware of trafficking, and (in some cases) dissuaded the DEA and other agencies from investigating the Contra supply networks involved. Larry Collins alleged: During the Vietnam War, US operations in Laos were largely a CIA responsibility. [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. This is all easily obtainable information. U.S. officials involved in Central America failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua. An editorial in the Times, while criticizing the series for making "unsubstantiated charges," conceded that it did find "drug-smuggling and dealing by Nicaraguans with at least tentative connections to the Contras" and called for further investigation. ", "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. [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. A CIA internal investigation found that agents had worked with drug traffickers to support the Contra program, but found no evidence of any conspiracy by CIA or its employees to bring drugs into the United States. Author of The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported back in 2015 thatheroin use in the United States increased 63% from 2002 through 2013.Fast forward to 2016, heroin is sweeping across the United States at unprecedented levels. Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. According to the series, Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles, and Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. [7] 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. " (G)overnments themselves, and the links they develop with major traffickers, are the key both to the drug-trafficking problem and to its solution." The CIA is a sinister, secretive, unaccountable agency, operating extrajudicially. The CIA has been accused of moneylaundering the Iran-Contradrug funds via the BCCI, the former U.S. Commissioner of Customs William von Raab said that when customs agents raided the bank in 1988, they found numerous CIA accounts. United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General, United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), CIA transnational anti-crime and anti-drug activities, "Venezuelan General Indicted in C.I.A. The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium barons of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand and Laos), the worlds largest source of opium and heroin. Attorneys' Offices. [45] This was reported in 2008 by The New York Times. "[44], In 2006 the US Ambassador in Kabul, the CIA station chief and MI6/SIS's station chief held meetings with President Hamid Karzai, according to several participants in those meetings. CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking Central Intelligence Agency A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the Nicaraguan Contras ' cocaine trafficking operations during the 1980s Nicaraguan civil war. Read more Print length 734 pages Language English Publisher Lawrence Hill Books Publication date May 1, 2003 They were operated by narcotics traffickers who provided weapons for the Contras. "[7], On March 16, 1986, the San Francisco Examiner published a report on the "1983 seizure of 430 pounds of cocaine from a Colombian freighter" in San Francisco; it said that a "cocaine ring in the San Francisco Bay area helped finance Nicaragua's Contra rebels." "[52], The report also stated that former DEA agent Celerino Castillo III 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". Then, too, he said all the profits went to the Contras. Rep. John Conyers, Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, convened a special seminar on Capitol Hill to focus on the issue. 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. [59], For the related broader allegations of drug trafficking by the CIA, see, Alleged CIA support for cocaine smuggling and other related crimes, CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking, Early reports of Contra cocaine trafficking. 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. 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. "[47] A CIA spokesman said: "No intelligence organization worth the name would ever entertain these kind of allegations. The incident, which was first made public in 1993, was part of a plan to assist an undercover agent to gain the confidence of a Colombian drug cartel. it would not be the first time that the DEA has stumbled on major CIA drug . [35], In 1989, the United States invaded Panama as part of Operation Just Cause, which involved 25,000 American troops. [24], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. 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