“CIA, DEA ran the drug deals”

The Miami Herald

August 23, 1991

Manuel Noriega says he had good reasons for allowing drugs and guns to slip through Panama: The last seven CIA directors, including George Bush, asked him to help with the guns, while four directors of the Drug Enforcement Administration sought his help on the drugs.

CIA directors who asked Noriega to allow them to travel through Panama included George Bush, Richard Helms, William Colby, James Schlesinger, Stansfield Turner, William Casey and William Webster.

The DEA directors who purportedly asked Noriega to allow drugs to pass through Panama included Terrance Burk, Francis Mullen, Jack Lawn and John Ingersoll.

The assertions came in papers released Thursday by the U.S. District Court in Miami, where the deposed Panamanian leader is scheduled to be tried on drug charges Sept. 4. Noriega’s lawyers have always said that the U.S. government authorized his involvement in drug and weapons dealings in Panama in the 1970s and 1980s. But they never said who provided the autho- rizations until they submitted the names under seal in a March 22 court filing. The papers were made public Monday.

The weapons shipments were destined for Nicaragua and Honduras, the papers said.

Besides Bush, the CIA directors who asked Noriega to allow them to travel through Panama included Richard Helms, William Colby, James Schlesinger, Stansfield Turner, William Casey and William Webster.

“Further, Gen. Noriega was requested that these shipments not be inspected or molested by the Government of Panama”, the papers say. “Upon the return flight of the aircraft, Gen. Noriega was also requested not to inspect the returning cargo to the United States.”

The court filing did not identify the returning cargo.

A CIA spokesman in Langley, Va., declined comment, citing an agency policy not to discuss pending court cases.

The DEA directors who purportedly asked Noriega to allow drugs to pass through his country included Terrance Burk, Francis Mullen, Jack Lawn and John Ingersoll.

“During these operations, either Gen. Noriega or a member of his staff fully cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration and did not seize the illegal drug shipment or arrest the smugglers,’ the court filing said.

The same policy was carried out for the shipment of ether and acetone, chemicals used in processing cocaine.

“On various occasions, officers of the Panamanian Defense Force, per the instructions of Gen. Noriega, placed electronic tracking equipment in shipments of ether and acetone so that those shipments could be traced and followed,” the court filing said.

In other court papers released Thursday, Noriega’s lawyers had these complaints about the government’s handling of his case:

• That prosecutors plan to introduce their client’s records with the notorious Bank of Commerce and Credit International to impress the jury with the size of Noriega’s wealth. The records, the lawyers said, have nothing to do with the case, and do not prove that the money is tainted.
• That the CIA hid or destroyed documents pertaining to money that was placed under Noriega’s control. He also claimed that the CIA secretly recorded conversations that its agents conducted with him in his offices.

Lyons, David. “Noriega: CIA OK’d Deals for Guns, DEA for Drugs.” The Miami Herald [Miami, FL], 21 Aug. 1991, p. 28.