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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/DEA.md

@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ A Senate subcommittee report found that the DEA used the former smuggler Barry S
 
 ### Costa Rica: Kelso Investigation
 
-In 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and U.S. Customs informant, gathered testimony from six witnesses willing to testify that DEA agents in Costa Rica were skimming cocaine from seizures, making counterfeit money and protecting cocaine labs including on Contra bases. [[Gary Webb]] wrote that DEA agent [[Robert Nieves]] had Kelso arrested and threatened his life, that Kelso was beaten and deported, that his evidence tapes were turned over to [[Oliver North]] through [[Robert Owen]], who threw them away when the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] broke, that the DEA never investigated, and that DEA Administrator Jack Lawn told Congress he had never heard of the case. Webb is the sole source for the passages so cited.[^7]
+In 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and U.S. Customs informant, gathered testimony from six witnesses willing to testify that DEA agents in Costa Rica were skimming cocaine from seizures, making counterfeit money and protecting cocaine labs including on Contra bases. [[Gary Webb]] wrote that DEA agent [[Robert Nieves]] had Kelso arrested and threatened his life, that Kelso was beaten and deported, that his evidence tapes were turned over to [[Oliver North]] through [[Robert Owen]], who threw them away when the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] broke, that the DEA never investigated, and that DEA Administrator Jack Lawn told Congress he had never heard of the case.[^7]
 
 ### Blandon in DEA Files
 
 The Justice Department Inspector General found the first mention of [[Danilo Blandon]] in DEA files was a March 1983 debriefing of a confidential source in Los Angeles, followed by a January 1985 source report that Blandon supplied cocaine to [[Norwin Meneses]] and a February 1986 report that he had attended a Contra support conference in Miami in December 1982. The Inspector General wrote that this was "treated as background intelligence" and that the DEA opened a case on Blandon in August 1986 when an informant walked into the Riverside office. A judge granted Blandon political asylum on August 19, 1985, after a January 1983 denial.[^8]
 
-Webb wrote that the DEA opened a NADDIS file on Blandon on May 24, 1983, on a tip that he belonged to a cocaine trafficking organization; that in early 1984, while his asylum application was under State Department review, an informant told the DEA he was "the head" of his own Los Angeles distribution organization; that the DEA opened a NADDIS file on his wife [[Chepita Blandon]] on March 15, 1985, before she was granted asylum that year; that State Department policy was to check with the DEA before approving asylum; and that the Inspector General found the Blandons' immigration records "in disarray." Webb is the sole source for the NADDIS dates and the quoted finding.[^9]
+Webb wrote that the DEA opened a NADDIS file on Blandon on May 24, 1983, on a tip that he belonged to a cocaine trafficking organization; that in early 1984, while his asylum application was under State Department review, an informant told the DEA he was "the head" of his own Los Angeles distribution organization; that the DEA opened a NADDIS file on his wife [[Chepita Blandon]] on March 15, 1985, before she was granted asylum that year; that State Department policy was to check with the DEA before approving asylum; and that the Inspector General found the Blandons' immigration records "in disarray."[^9]
 
 Webb wrote that after Blandon's 1992 arrest the government dropped charges against Chepita Blandon, granted her citizenship, reduced his sentence to twenty-eight months and released him on unsupervised probation as a full-time paid informant. The Inspector General found Blandon was sentenced to 48 months, reduced to 28 on a government motion for substantial cooperation, found no sign the leniency rested on anything but his cooperation, and concluded an INS agent improperly obtained him a green card in 1994 despite his felony conviction because the agent wanted to avoid the effort of obtaining travel documents the proper way.[^8]
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ Webb wrote that after Blandon's 1992 arrest the government dropped charges again
 
 Norwin Meneses approached the DEA Costa Rica office in July 1986. The Inspector General found that the agent, [[Sandalio Gonzalez]], checked DEA databases, found no warrants, and in December 1986 sent Meneses and a DEA informant ("DEA CI-1") to Los Angeles, where in January 1987 they met Blandon, [[Ivan Torres]] and others. The San Francisco FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office, and FBI agent [[Douglas Aukland]], were surprised. On July 24, 1987, the Costa Rica office formally established Meneses as an informant, noted "no pending charges known at this time," obtained a 45-day visa for him in September 1987 and another in November, deactivated him on December 23, 1989, reactivated him briefly in May 1990 and paid him $7,377.50 over thirteen payments. Meneses had been indicted under seal in San Francisco in February 1989. In a debriefing on February 10, 1987, Meneses told Gonzalez he had personally paid $5,000 "on numerous occasions" to a DEA agent in the San Francisco area three to four years earlier "for protection," and that the agent worked with corrupt San Francisco police officials. Gonzalez forwarded the memorandum to headquarters; a DEA Office of Professional Responsibility official replied by telephone on March 16, 1987, that the allegation had been made in June 1985, investigated and found false (the office had issued a clearance letter to the agent on February 3, 1986), and no further action was taken. The FBI had polygraphed two persons who made the earlier allegation, Jairo Meneses and Renato Pena, in July 1986 and its examiner concluded they were deceptive in denying they had lied.[^10]
 
-Webb called the January 1987 operation "Operation Perico" and wrote that the CIA operative "Roberto" accompanied Meneses, that the DEA conducted it without informing Aukland, that the debriefing reports captured admissions that CIA representatives were aware of Contra drug activity and did not mind, that the San Francisco office cabled Costa Rica that it did not know "who was being targeted," and that headquarters was asked "whether an indictment of Meneses by the San Francisco FBI will result in national security problems with other agencies." Webb also wrote that Meneses worked as a DEA informant from 1985 to 1991 despite the 1989 indictment, that Nieves was his control agent, and that the DEA public affairs chief James McGivney offered an interview with Meneses on condition that reporters omit Blandon's DEA ties. Webb is the sole source for these passages.[^11]
+Webb called the January 1987 operation "Operation Perico" and wrote that the CIA operative "Roberto" accompanied Meneses, that the DEA conducted it without informing Aukland, that the debriefing reports captured admissions that CIA representatives were aware of Contra drug activity and did not mind, that the San Francisco office cabled Costa Rica that it did not know "who was being targeted," and that headquarters was asked "whether an indictment of Meneses by the San Francisco FBI will result in national security problems with other agencies." Webb also wrote that Meneses worked as a DEA informant from 1985 to 1991 despite the 1989 indictment, that Nieves was his control agent, and that the DEA public affairs chief James McGivney offered an interview with Meneses on condition that reporters omit Blandon's DEA ties.[^11]
 
 Webb quoted Senator [[John Kerry]] telling Lawn in 1987 that the head of the Costa Rica office told the committee "the infrastructure that was used to supply the Contras was used to smuggle drugs," and quoted the Costa Rican prosecutor Jorge Chavarria saying the DEA "knew about the Contras and drugs... They were looking in the other direction."[^12] The subcommittee's own report of December 1988 stated that despite "obvious and widespread trafficking through the war zones of northern Costa Rica" it was "unable to find a single case against a drug trafficker operating in those zones which was made on the basis of a tip or report by an official of a U.S. intelligence agency."[^6]
 
@@ -97,15 +97,15 @@ The Inspector General reproduced CIA memoranda of October 25, November 5 and Dec
 
 DEA agent [[Celerino Castillo]], assigned to the Guatemala City office, which covered El Salvador, from 1985 to 1990, opened an investigation of the pilot Grasheim, who Castillo wrote had crash-landed near Tamiami, Florida, in May 1986 claiming to be a "secret agent," and whose Salvadoran home was searched on September 1, 1986. At a briefing on October 30, 1986, U.S. Customs agent Richard Rivera told Ambassador [[Edwin Corr]] Customs had investigated Grasheim for years for illegal export of weapons and "hi-tech" equipment; Corr asked that any investigation be "very discreet." On November 21, 1986, the Guatemala country attache Robert Stia closed the DEA case, recording that "the drug aspect" was concluded and that the information went to Customs and the [[Internal Revenue Service]].[^13]
 
-Webb wrote that Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking at [[Ilopango Airbase]], began sending reports to DEA headquarters in January 1986 listing names, destinations, tail numbers and criminal records without reply, that Corr requested an internal review and the DEA told him Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and ordered the investigation closed, that Castillo was forced to retire, and that the DEA later claimed under the Freedom of Information Act it had no such reports, a claim Webb said the Inspector General exposed as false. Webb is the sole source for these passages.[^14] The Inspector General reported that Castillo refused an interview unless he could record it and have Representative [[Maxine Waters]] present, found that Castillo had passed such information in 1986 and that the Ilopango investigation was closed amid sensitive covert supply operations, found his broader conclusions unsupported, and recorded that Castillo resigned in 1992.[^13]
+Webb wrote that Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking at [[Ilopango Airbase]], began sending reports to DEA headquarters in January 1986 listing names, destinations, tail numbers and criminal records without reply, that Corr requested an internal review and the DEA told him Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and ordered the investigation closed, that Castillo was forced to retire, and that the DEA later claimed under the Freedom of Information Act it had no such reports, a claim Webb said the Inspector General exposed as false.[^14] The Inspector General reported that Castillo refused an interview unless he could record it and have Representative [[Maxine Waters]] present, found that Castillo had passed such information in 1986 and that the Ilopango investigation was closed amid sensitive covert supply operations, found his broader conclusions unsupported, and recorded that Castillo resigned in 1992.[^13]
 
 ### San Diego Reverse Sting
 
-Webb wrote that Blandon, recruited as a full-time paid informant, reestablished contact with [[Ricky Ross]], released in 1993 and attempting to go straight with the Freeway Academy youth center, calling and paging him constantly, and that Ross's probation officer James Galipeau said, "The son-of-a-bitch called him while he was in the car with his probation officer!" On March 2, 1995, at the Bonita Plaza Mall in Chula Vista, DEA agents watched [[Leroy Brown|"Chico" Brown]] hand $169,445 to Blandon's Colombian associate for 100 kilos of cocaine in a booby-trapped Chevy Blazer, and agent Charles Jones said agents blocked the vehicle and activated a kill switch. Webb is the sole source.[^15] The Inspector General found the DEA opened its investigation of Ross in October 1994 after Ross contacted Blandon, that Ross was convicted over an entrapment defense and, with two prior felony drug convictions, received a mandatory life sentence, and that Ross's claim of retaliation for his 1991 testimony against sheriff's deputies was not supported.[^8]
+Webb wrote that Blandon, recruited as a full-time paid informant, reestablished contact with [[Ricky Ross]], released in 1993 and attempting to go straight with the Freeway Academy youth center, calling and paging him constantly, and that Ross's probation officer James Galipeau said, "The son-of-a-bitch called him while he was in the car with his probation officer!" On March 2, 1995, at the Bonita Plaza Mall in Chula Vista, DEA agents watched [[Leroy Brown|"Chico" Brown]] hand $169,445 to Blandon's Colombian associate for 100 kilos of cocaine in a booby-trapped Chevy Blazer, and agent Charles Jones said agents blocked the vehicle and activated a kill switch.[^15] The Inspector General found the DEA opened its investigation of Ross in October 1994 after Ross contacted Blandon, that Ross was convicted over an entrapment defense and, with two prior felony drug convictions, received a mandatory life sentence, and that Ross's claim of retaliation for his 1991 testimony against sheriff's deputies was not supported.[^8]
 
 ### October 1995 Meeting With Webb
 
-Webb wrote that in October 1995 Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hall warned him his reporting could endanger Blandon; that on October 19 Special Agent in Charge [[Craig Chretien]] and six agents met him at the National City regional office and asked him to omit Blandon's DEA ties; that agent [[Chuck Jones]] denied knowing of Blandon's Contra drug history yet confirmed the DEA knew; that Chretien offered information about Meneses in exchange; that eight days later Nieves resigned as head of the International Division and Chretien was promoted to replace him; and that Nieves later joined Guardian Technologies, a company associated with Oliver North. Freelance journalist [[Georg Hodel]] located Meneses in a Nicaraguan prison before the DEA's brokered interview materialized. Webb is the sole source for these passages.[^16]
+Webb wrote that in October 1995 Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hall warned him his reporting could endanger Blandon; that on October 19 Special Agent in Charge [[Craig Chretien]] and six agents met him at the National City regional office and asked him to omit Blandon's DEA ties; that agent [[Chuck Jones]] denied knowing of Blandon's Contra drug history yet confirmed the DEA knew; that Chretien offered information about Meneses in exchange; that eight days later Nieves resigned as head of the International Division and Chretien was promoted to replace him; and that Nieves later joined Guardian Technologies, a company associated with Oliver North. Freelance journalist [[Georg Hodel]] located Meneses in a Nicaraguan prison before the DEA's brokered interview materialized.[^16]
 
 ### Footnotes