Drug Lords Aided Contras, Ex-Kingpin Testifies

November 26, 1991|From Associated Press MIAMI Colombian drug lords gave the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan Contras up to $10 million in the early 1980s, imprisoned kingpin Carlos Lehder testified Monday in Manuel A. Noriega's drug-smuggling trial. Lehder, who is trying to reduce his life sentence for drug trafficking by testifying against Noriega, acknowledged the contribution after the defense confronted him with a March, 1990, prison interview he had granted.

"To the best of my knowledge, there was some contribution to the Contra anti-communist movement," said Lehder, a founding member of the Medellin cocaine cartel. "It could be around $10 million." When asked if he provided some of the cartel's payment to the Contras, Lehder responded: "Apparently I did, sir." Defense attorney Frank Rubino asked if the money was in exchange for a U.S. "green light" to ship drugs to the United States through Contra bases in Costa Rica. "I don't recall any of that, sir," Lehder answered. "I do recall that there were shipments going through Costa Rica." The government's attorneys objected repeatedly to questions about the Contras. U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler said he would allow limited questioning. In the prison interview, Lehder had said the drugs were flown by way of a Costa Rican ranch owned by U.S. citizen John Hull, currently a fugitive charged with murder in that Central American country. Hull was major supporter of the Contras in the mid-1980s. But Lehder testified Monday that he only had "second-hand information" about Hull's involvement. The prison interview had been given to a Playboy magazine writer but was never published. Ex-Contra leader Adolfo Calero, who now lives in Miami, angrily denied the charges Monday.
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-26/news/mn-47_1_drug-lords

================= U.S. REP Maxine Waters Investigation http://www.scribd.com/doc/117070568/US-Congresswoman-Maxine-Waters-Investigation-of-CIAContras-involvement-in-drug-sales-1996-2000

Exhibit 1: U.S. Attorney General William French Smith replies to a still classified letter from DCI William Casey requesting exemption from reporting drug crimes by CIA assets. Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/01.gif

Exhibit 2: DCI William Casey happily agrees with William French Smith and signs the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exempting his agency from reporting drug crimes. This agreement covered both the Latin American conflicts and Afghanistan war. It remained in effect until August, 1995 when it was quietly rescinded by Janet Reno after Gary Webb began making inquiries for his series. The 1995 revision of the DOJ-CIA MOU specifically includes narcotics violations among the lists of potential offenses by non-employees that must be reported to DOJ. Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/13.gif

Exhibit 3: On February 8, 1985, Deputy Chief of DOJ's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR) from 1979 to 1991, A. R. Cinquegrana signed off on this letter approving the MOU. Mark M. Richard, Deputy Assistant Attorney General with responsibility for General Litigation and International Law Enforcement in 1982, states that he was unable to explain why narcotics violations were not on the list of reportable crimes except that the MOU had "other deficiencies, not just drugs." Source:

https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/14.gif