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. This is all easily obtainable information. [7], In 1985, another Contra leader "told U.S. authorities that his group was being paid $50,000 by Colombian traffickers for help with a 100-kilo cocaine shipment and that the money would go 'for the cause' of fighting the Nicaraguan government." There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. [38] The CIA issued a statement on the incident saying there was "poor judgment and management on the part of several C.I.A. On October 3, 1996, LA County Sheriff Sherman Block ordered a fourth investigation into Webb's claims that a 1986 raid on Blandn's drug organization by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department had produced evidence of CIA ties to drug smuggling and that this was later suppressed. In 1986, the Agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service (SIN). [40] By January, Webb filed drafts of four more articles based on his trip, but his editors concluded that the new articles would not help shore up the original series' claims. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. Launched in 1970, Eagle targeted anti-Castro Cubans smuggling cocaine from Latin America to the Trafficante organization in Florida. Clinton brought in C.I.A front companies by awarding them state-backed low interest loans to relocate to Arkansas. Various sources allege the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (WP) has been involved in drug trafficking operations throughout Asia, Australia, the Americas, and the Middle East: opium planting, growing, harvesting and smuggling; processing of heroin, development of heroin processing capability and smuggling . Larry Collins alleged: During the Vietnam War, US operations in Laos were largely a CIA responsibility. Attorneys' Offices. ", The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. After introducing the three, the first article discussed primarily Blandn and Meneses, and their relationship with the Contras and the CIA. "[29], In 1996, Gary Webb wrote a series of articles published in the San Jose Mercury News, which investigated Nicaraguans linked to the CIA-backed Contras who had smuggled cocaine into the U.S. which was then distributed as crack cocaine into Los Angeles and funneled profits to the Contras. It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. "[11], In April 1986, Associated Press reported on an FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking. The CIA, DEA, State Department, and several other U.S. government agencies have been alleged to have relations with various groups which are involved in drug trafficking. Mid-1980s to early 199Os, HAITI. The investigation was conducted by the Sub-Committee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, chaired by Senator John Kerry, so its final 1989 report was known as the Kerry Committee report. The Clinton family have been heavily involved in the trafficking of drugs, both inside and outside of the United States. " (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. According to unnamed sources in the mid 1980s, the CIA created a unit in Haiti, whose purported purpose was anti-drug activity, but was in reality "used as an instrument of political terror", and was heavily involved in drug trafficking. [22], Following a 2009 FOIA request, the 2006 document "Undercover Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos" was released. (See Christopher Robbins, Air America, Avon Books, 1985, chapter 9). Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-awareness, and emotion. CIA drug trafficking. Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. [59], Examining the support that Meneses and Blandn gave to the local Contra organization in San Francisco, the report concluded that it was "not sufficient to finance the organization" and did not consist of 'millions', contrary to the claims of the "Dark Alliance" series. 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. Season 5 of the Archer series (Archer Vice) depicts Archer trying to sell cocaine in America which they later discover is a part of a drugs for arms deal between the CIA and the dictator of the fictional Country of San Marcos. "[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. In 1980, amidst several mysterious deaths, the bank collapsed, $50 million in debt. This article first appeared onPoliticalJunkieNewsMedia.com and was authored by Joe Bowman. According to the DEA, the CIA has been sharing drug intelligence with the DEA since it was given a drug intelligence mandate in the early 1970s. 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. There have been several allegations that the CIA facilitated smuggling lines for cocaine, heroin . [34], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. [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. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot), mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus . 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. "Report: Cocaine Ring Finances Contras", Associated Press (March 16, 1986). Fox News had a segment with Geraldo Rivera that shows how the U.S. government (in this case, the U.S. Marines) is involved in Afghanistans heroin production with Washingtons approval of course. He also defended the series in interviews with all three papers. A 1985 National Intelligence Estimate revealed cocaine trafficking links to a top commander working under Contra leader Edn Pastora. 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. By the end of September, three federal investigations had been announced: an investigation into the CIA allegations conducted by CIA Inspector-General Frederick Hitz, an investigation into the law enforcement allegations by Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Bromwich, and a second investigation into the CIA by the House Intelligence Committee. ", The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report[45] was released on July 23, 1998. 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. Sandoval (eds. However, abusing Opioids can also lead to heroin use. From its very inception, the CIA has been embroiled in the murky underworld of drug trafficking. 24 Jul 2012. 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. [28], Surprised by The Washington Post article, Mercury News executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. Southern Air Transport, formerly CIA-owned, and later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running as well. Although it did find that both men were major drug dealers, "guilty of enriching themselves at the expense of countless drug users", and that they had contributed money to the Contra cause, "we did not find that their activities were responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic in South Central Los Angeles, much less the rise of crack throughout the nation, or that they were a significant source of support for the Contras. [58] According to the report, it used Webb's reporting and writing as "key resources in focusing and refining the investigation." [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." in Central America", "Prepared Statement of Frederick P. Hitz inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency Before The House Committee On Intelligence subject Investigation Of allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras In Drug Trafficking to the United States", "Inspector: CIA Kept Ties With Alleged Traffickers", "Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. 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. [46] Ahmed Wali Karzai denied the allegations stating that he had provided intelligence to the United States but was not compensated. He enlisted 30,000 Hmong tribesmen in the service of the CIA. Air America, the CIAs principal airline proprietary, flew the drugs all over Southeast Asia. [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. [41], Alfred McCoy has argued that the CIA had fostered heroin production in Afghanistan for decades to finance operations aimed at containing the spread of communism, and later to finance operations aimed at containing the spread of the Islamic state. Journalist Gary Webb's expose of CIA involvement in Nicaraguan drugs trafficking, supporting the contras, dealing with Los Angeles crack dealers, made him a . Cultivation in the two main production provinces, Helmand in the southwest and Oruzgan in central Afghanistan, was up by 132 percent. Asking why crack became so prevalent in the black community of Los Angeles, the article credited Blandn, referring to him as the Johnny Appleseed of crack in California.It also found disparities in the treatment of black and white traffickers in the justice system, contrasting the treatment of Blandn and Ross after their arrests for drug trafficking. In the 1980s, American journalists Anthony Avirgan and Martha Honey claimed that the perpetrator of the La Penca bombing was linked to a drug-financed "Secret Team" of FDN Contras and CIA agents. His discharge paperwork is at the . Webbs Dark Alliance series, appeared in the Mercury News in 1996. The lieutenant trafficker was also a Contra, and the CIA knew that there was an arms-for-drugs shuttle and did nothing to stop it. [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. During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. In his book "Politics of Heroin",[43] McCoy alleges CIA complicity in the global drug trade in Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central America, and Colombia, arguing that the CIA follows a similar pattern in all their drug involvement. The systematic involvement of the CIA in international drug running is as old as the agency itself, created in 1947 at the beginning of the Cold War. 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. [39], In addition, the former Venezuelan anti-narcotics chief General Ramon Guillen Davila and his chief civilian aide were both indicted in connection with the shipments. 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. 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. When Ross discovered the market for crack in Los Angeles, he began buying cocaine from Blandn. [45] This was reported in 2008 by The New York Times. Surname1 CIA involvement in Drug Trafficking Name Professor Course Date The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 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. It is portrayed in the movie Air America. The CIA sets up proprietary arms, shipping, and banking companies to facilitate the criminal drug. Some of these reports claim that congressional evidence indicates that the CIA worked with groups which it knew were involved in drug trafficking, so that these groups would provide them with useful intelligence and material support . 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. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, chaired at the time by Senator John Kerry, held a series of hearings from 1987 to 1988 on drug cartels and drug money laundering in South and Central America and the Caribbean. . Back in 1996, Blandon was asked in court if he ran the LA drug operation, which he confirmed. "[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. 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. In 1949, two of Chiang Kai-shek's defeated generals, Li Wen Huan and Tuan Shi Wen, marched their Third and Fifth Route. A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. One of the businesses that relocated there was Rich Mountain Aviation Inc.that did illegal modifications to the planes which allowed Seal to fly weapons to Nicaragua and transport cocaine back into the United States. 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." These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senat [26][27], The CIA's self-investigation, overseen by the CIA's inspector general, stated that the CIA had no involvement in or knowledge of any illegal activities that may have occurred in Mena. 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. House Intelligence Committee members heard testimony concerning allegations of CIA drug trafficking. ", Many follow-ups to the original series published over the next three months are in the series archive at. The involvement of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in cocaine trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration as part of the Contra war in Nicaragua has been the subject of several official and journalistic investigations since the mid-1980s. Read more Print length 734 pages Language English Publisher Lawrence Hill Books Publication date May 1, 2003 Illegal money and weapons flowed in from North's backroom cowboys in the White House basement as well as from four fronts which were set up by the State Department. [35], In 1989, the United States invaded Panama as part of Operation Just Cause, which involved 25,000 American troops. [34] Writers such as Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall have suggested that the U.S. government's desire to conceal or protect these clandestine shipments led it to close the DEA office in Honduras when an investigation began into SETCO, allowing Matta-Ballesteros to continue and expand his trafficking. The charges linked the Contra trafficking to Sebastin Gonzlez Mendiola, who was charged with cocaine trafficking on November 26, 1984, in Costa Rica. The San Jose Mercury News series written by Gary Webb, documents just one thread of the interwoven operations linking the CIA, the contras and the cocaine cartels. Noriega facilitated guns-for-drugs flights for the contras, providing protection and pilots, as well as safe havens for drug cartel officials, and discreet banking facilities. 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. 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." This support "was not directed by anyone within the Contra movement who had an association with the CIA," and the Committee found "no evidence that the CIA or the Intelligence Community was aware of these individuals' support. [28], In 1986, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations began investigating drug trafficking from Central and South America and the Caribbean to the United States. 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. The series ran from October 2022, 1996, and was researched by a team of 17 reporters. SIN was purportedly created to fight the cocaine trade, though SIN officers themselves engaged in the trafficking, a trade aided and abetted by some of the Haitian military and political leaders. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking.Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, journalists Gary Webb and Alexander Cockburn, and writer Larry Collins.These claims have led to investigations by the United States . [29] The Post ultimately refused to print his letter. Three officials told journalists that they considered these reports "reliable." 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. A pair of BNDD [the predecessor of the US Drug Enforcement Administration] agents tried to seize an Air America."[13]. To show this, the series focused on three men: Ricky Ross, Oscar Danilo Blandn, and Norwin Meneses. Before long, someonethere were unproven allegations that it was a Mafia family from Floridahad established a heroin drug refinery lab in Region Two. Barry Seal was indicted several times in 3 different states and protected from prosecution by the U.S Attorney Generals office and the D.E.A. 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. (John Dinges, Our Man in Panama, Random House, 1991; National Security Archive Documentation Packet The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations.). [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." Theres a movie coming out this year staring Tom Cruise called Mena about a pilot named Barry Seal who was a known DEA informant responsible for flying TONS of coke into the U.S working with the Sandanistas and Medellin cartel from Columbia, I.E the Ochoa brothers, Pablo Escobar, etc This rabbit hole can lead you all the way to George H.W Bush, who oversaw the Federal Drug Task Force commissioned by Reagan to Bill Clinton who was Governor of Arkansas at the time where Mena (population roughly 5,000 people) is located in a quiet, mountainous region of western Arkansas. [1] Webb's series raised allegations that U.S. government officials including Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) employees either ignored or protected drug dealers in Southern California who were associated with the Nicaraguan Contras. ), 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. When he became de facto dictator of Panama in 1984, little changed. Ross was also released early after cooperating in an investigation of police corruption, but was rearrested a few months later in a sting operation arranged with the help of Blandn. Drug trafficking > When: WWII to Afghanistan > What: CIA involvement in global drug trafficking. CIA and Drug Trafficking Drug Trafficking in Recent Years Drug trafficking in the United States dates back to the 19th century. Washington claims that Mexico is the source of the heroin that is flooding U.S. streetswith 10,500 hectares under poppy cultivation in 2012while Afghanistan had224,000 hectaresaccording to theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) in a 2014 report but the numbers tell a different story. Long Island is home to some of the wealthiest communities in New York State which goes to show that heroin is affecting all neighborhoods rich and poor. investigators." 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. An example of drug trafficking is someone making methamphetamines in his basement. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "C.I.A. While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to their clients drug trafficking. Scheme", Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities 1976, Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General, Investigations Staff, "Suit Alleging Plot by Contras, CIA Dismissed: Arms-Drug Smuggling, Conspiracy Charges Unproven, Judge Says", "Christic Institute Ordered to Pay $1 Million", "Court lets stand $1 million award against Christic Institute", "The CIA Drug Connection Is as Old as the Agency", The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, "Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. [29] Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandn's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandn's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses. The Agencys principal client was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the leading druglords and leading heroin refiner. In the beginning, CIA arms, money, and disinformation enabled Corsican criminal syndicates in Marseille to wrestle control of labor unions from the Communist Party. [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." It was a way to raise large amounts of "hard to trace" cash. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the worlds illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for Americas booming heroin market. 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. Blandn and Meneses high-volume supply of low-priced cocaine allowed Ross to sew up the Los Angeles market and move on. The late Chalmers Johnson said its existence "shorten (s) the life of the American republic." [42] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. Afghanistan, Source of 90% of The Worlds Heroinstated the impact of Afghanistans opium production on neighboring countries: Afghanistan, source of 90% of Earths heroin, ended 90% of Earths heroin problems when Taliban outlawed opium in 2000. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. CIA Involvement in Drug Smuggling Part 4. [20] Maxine Waters, the Representative for California's 35th district, which includes South-Central Los Angeles, was also outraged by the articles and became one of Webb's strongest supporters. 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. [24], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. [43] In the column Ceppos continued to defend parts of the article, writing that the series had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and did sell large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. 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. Another Costa Rican-based drug ring involved a group of Cuban Americans whom the CIA had hired as military trainers for the contras. [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. Describes CIA involvement in drug trafficking Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2011-02-08 21:59:25 Bookplateleaf 0010 Boxid IA138122 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City London [u.a.] However, not only heroin from Afghanistan is the major source for U.S. citizens,BigPharma,or thecorporate drug dealerswho selllegal drugsalso have a hand in the epidemic because they produce and sellOpioidssuch asOxyContinandPercocetwhich is similar to heroin.
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