Allegations were made, most notably by the Kerry subcommittee,
that North and other senior officials created a privatized Contra
network that attracted drug traffickers looking for cover for their
operations, then turned a blind eye to repeated reports of drug
smuggling related to the Contras, and actively worked with known drug
smugglers such as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to assist the
Contras.[24] Journalist Gary Webb asserted in his journalistic series and book Dark Alliance, that North developed the idea of using drug money to support the resistance movement.[2]
Most Contra associates found guilty of trafficking by the Kerry
committee were involved in the supply chain (ostensibly for
"humanitarian goods," though the supply chain was later found to have
serviced the transport of arms), which had been set up by North.
Organizations and individuals involved in the supply chain under
investigation for trafficking included the company SETCO (operated by
large-scale trafficker Juan Matta-Ballesteros),
the fruit company Frigorificos de Puntarenas, rancher John Hull, and
several Cuban exiles; North and other U.S. government officials were
criticized by the Kerry Report for their practice of "ticket punching"
for these parties, whereby people under active investigation for drug
trafficking were given cover and pay by joining in the Contra supply
chain. Notably, cocaine trafficker and Contra Oscar Danilo Blandón was granted political asylum in the U.S. despite knowledge of his running a drug ring.[25] In addition to the Kerry committee's investigation, the Costa Rican government of Óscar Arias
conducted an investigation of Contra-related drug trafficking, and as a
result of this investigation, North and several other U.S. government
officials were permanently banned from entering Costa Rica
No comments:
Post a Comment