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Soviet-backed coup in Afghanistan sets stage for explosive growth in Southwest Asian heroin trade. [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. He told the Examiner, "I just wanted to get the Communists out of my country." 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 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. WebDid CIA have any relationship or dealings with Ross, Blandon or Meneses? 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. In each case, one or another agency of the U.S. government had information regarding the involvement either while it was occurring, or immediately thereafter. Several also said they supplied information about the smuggling to U.S. 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. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. [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. While a few cases have been investigated and exposed by journalists, the issue continues to remain in the shadows. For many years, the Panamanian was on the CIA payrolldespite Washington knowing he was involved in drug trafficking since at least 1972. [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. 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. 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. In 1980, amidst several mysterious deaths, the bank collapsed, $50 million in debt. [6], In 1984, U.S. officials began receiving reports of Contra cocaine trafficking. In the late 1940s, the CIA funneled arms and funds to the Corsican Mafia in Southern Air Transport, Despite advance knowledge, the CIA fails to halt members of the Bolivian militaries, aide by the Argentine counterparts, from staging the so-called `Cocaine Coup,' according to former DEA agent Michael Levine. We believe that Cuban involvement in drug trafficking may help to promote Cuban political objec- tives in the Western Hemisphere. The agency was aware of trafficking, and (in some cases) dissuaded the DEA and other agencies from investigating the Contra supply networks involved. [51], It found nothing to support the claim that "the drug trafficking activities of Blandn and Meneses were motivated by any commitment to support the Contra cause or Contra activities undertaken by CIA." www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Obsessed with overthrowing the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua, Reagan administration officials tolerated drug trafficking as long as the traffickers gave support to the contras. 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. 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. Meanwhile, to protect its global network of drug trafficking assets, the CIA began infiltrating the BNDD and commandeering its internal security, intelligence, and foreign operations branches. 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 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. Southern Air Transport, formerly ClA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. Weba gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis products and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece; money laundering related to drug trafficking and organized crime Grenada John E. Newhagen, "Commander Zero blasts CIA, State Department", John Lichfield and Tim Cornwell, "'America has fought the wrong war': Did US policy in central America in the 1980s assist the growth of the Colombian cocaine cartels? WebThe United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. WebThis work is incredibly comprehensive, such as by including a description of the OSS-CIA's first-ever coup, to seize control over Thailand so as to supply the CIA the dark money WebIn the 1980s, the CIA was involved in supporting the Contras, a rebel group fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Although the Carter administration suspends payments to Noriega, he returns to the U.S. payroll when President Reagan takes office in 1981. 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. 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. WebCentral Intelligence Agency Involvement with the Contras Chronology of Key Developments Related to the Contra War Cocaine Flows through Central America in the 1980s Results of Previous Investigations into Alleged Contra Drug Trafficking FINDINGS Was CIA involved in the California-based drug trafficking of Ricky WebAt least four transport companies under investigation for drug trafficking received US government contracts to carry non-lethal supplies to the contras. [21] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. 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. : r/virginvschad. At the time, some 30,000 U.S. service men in Vietnam are addicted to heroin. "); The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles. 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. in Central America", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward", The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and The Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Central Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, And The Crack Cocaine Explosion, "PBS Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. Matta was extradited to the United States in 1988 and convicted on drug trafficking charges. This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 18:46. 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. [5] ", "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. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. 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. But the director of the Drug Enforcement Agency initially praised him for his vigorous anti-drug trafficking policy. ", The report called several of its findings "troubling." (The most comprehensive allegations were reported by Gary Webb in a series of San Jose Mercury News reports and a book entitled "Dark Alliance.") The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the In fact, a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee corroborated this claim that the CIA actively supported Contra groups. WebIn another instance, the CIA received allegations that five members of the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ADREN) -- those fighting along the border of Nicaragua and U.S. officials involved in Central America failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua. The article also discussed Webb's contacts with Ross's attorney and prosecution complaints of how Ross's defense had used Webb's series. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." All Rights Reserved. [51], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. Marseilles first heroin laboratones were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. . In 1997, the Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos backed away from the story, calling it flawed in an editorial. They used contra planes and a Costa Rican-based shrimp company, which laundered money for the CIA, to channel cocaine to the U.S. Costa Rica was not the only route. The foregoing discussion should not be regarded as any kind of historical aberration inasmuch as the CIA has had a long and virtually continuous involvement with drug trafficking since the end of World War II. 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. 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. CIA-supported Moujahedeen rebels engaged heavily in drug trafficking while fighting the Soviet-supported government, which had plans to reform Afghan society. . 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 Agencys principal client was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the leading drug lords and the biggest heroin refiner, who was also the largest recipient of CIA military support. U.S. officials, the subcommittee said, `failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua.' 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) In 1986, the [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. WebThe CIA Was Behind a Massive Drug Trafficking Operation in Argentina, Russian Drug Smuggler Claims. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. 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.>. CIA supplied trucks and mules, which had carried arms into Afghanistan, were used to transport opium to laboratories along the Afghan Pakistan border. . 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. Attorneys' Offices. Read more Print length 734 pages Language English Publisher Lawrence Hill Books Publication date May U.S. officials, including then-ClA Director William Webster and several DEA officers, sent Noriega letters of praise for efforts to thwart drug trafficking (albeit only against competitors of his Medellin Cartel patrons). In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). 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.' Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, 7 Min Read. CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrest control of labor unions from the Communist Party. pageTracker._initData(); The CIA attempts to quash the book. [2][3][4] The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post launched their own investigations and rejected Webb's allegations. When Danilo Blandn was finally arrested in 1986, he admitted to drug crimes that would have sent others away for life. (See Christopher Robbins, Air America, Avon Books, 1985, chapter 9). But these denials overlook much of the Mercury News evidence of CIA complicity. He wrote that the huge influx of cocaine happened to come at just the time that street-level drug dealers were figuring out how to make cocaine affordable by changing it into crack. Former head of the Venezuelan National Guard and CIA operative Gen. Ramon Gullien Davila is indicted in Miami on charges of smuggling as much as 22 tons of cocaine into the United States. The San Jose Mercury News series documents just one thread of the interwoven operations linking the CIA, the contras and the cocaine cartels. 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. urchinTracker(). 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