PART 3 OF 4
A May 20, 1987 cable indicated that Frixone had admitted to Dominican police that he and his accomplices were planning to go to Colombia to pick up marijuana and that he was to be the pilot. The cable added that Frixone and the others had been released by the judge in November 1980 because of "insufficient evidence."
A June 30, 1987 Headquarters cable indicated that the allegations against Frixone and several others would have to be "clarified" before approval to use them could be initiated. Further, the cable stated that investigative efforts were underway and that all the individuals would be questioned by Security "as soon as possible."
No information has been found to indicate that Frixone was questioned again or that further investigative efforts were made in this regard by CIA or other U.S. Government entities.
No information has been found to indicate that information regarding allegations of drug trafficking by Frixone was provided to the Congress or to other U.S. Government agencies.
Martin Horatio Gomez. Gomez, a native of Medellin, Colombia, was an aircraft mechanic for Vortex/Universal. After about nine months, his contractual relationship with the Agency was terminated on March 8, 1989 for "lack of interest."
The Agency was informed by DEA and Customs in April and May 1987 that Gomez was "criminally associated" with aircraft N50314. According to the April 28, 1987 DEA memorandum, the aircraft was owned by a Miami company and was suspected of being used to transport marijuana or cocaine from Colombia to the United States. On May 13, 1987, Customs provided information to CIA that indicated that Gomez had been suspected of involvement in currency and narcotics smuggling as of 1984 and that he was associated with "numerous alleged narcotics traffickers. . . ."
A June 1, 1987 CIA cable to Customs requested further information on Gomez and three other individuals in an attempt to determine the validity of the allegations. According to the June 1 cable, CIA:
. . . . would appreciate details on the sources of information, including any available assessments on the reliability of the sources and their access to the information (for example, whether through direct involvement in the alleged activity or via hearsay). . . .
In its June 24, 1987 response to CIA, Customs reported it had no additional information regarding Gomez.
No information has been found to indicate that Gomez was questioned by CIA Security. No information has been found to indicate that information regarding allegations of drug trafficking by Gomez was provided to the Congress.
Martin Alberto Gomez. Gomez, an aircraft mechanic, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in July 1986. CIA was informed by DEA on April 28, 1987 that Gomez allegedly had been involved in a drug smuggling organization as of 1981. Another alleged member of that organization was Martin Horatio Gomez, whom the DEA response indicated might have been his father.
Martin Alberto Gomez was questioned by Security on August 29, September 1, and November 3, 1988. The totality of the information he provided led CIA to conclude that he probably was involved in drug trafficking.
In an October 5, 1988 memorandum, an officer in the Office of Security wrote that Gomez "has not cooperated during [two attempts to question him] and it is not likely his attitude will change with additional processing." The memorandum therefore recommended that "[the cognizant CIA office] be requested to cancel interest" in Gomez. A November 15, 1988 memorandum from an Operational Evaluation Section officer to the Chief of the Staff and Operations Branch indicated that SAS had refused to "cancel interest" in Gomez, and that he was given a third opportunity for clarification on November 3, 1988. According to the memorandum, major concerns remained concerning the use of illegal drugs." His relationship with CIA was terminated in "mid-March 1989."
No information has been found to indicate that information regarding drug trafficking by Gomez was provided to the Congress or to other U.S. Government agencies.
Irving Silva. Silva, as noted in the April 28, 1987 DEA report, was implicated with Palmer in the September 1986 drug smuggling incident in northern Mexico involving 19,000 pounds of marijuana destined for the United States.
According to a February 29, 1988 memorandum to OGC's Assistant General Counsel regarding CIA contacts with Vortex/Universal Air Leasing, Silva was employed part-time by Vortex/Universal from December 1986 to January 1987 to provide navigational training to the ERN. The April 28, 1987 DEA trace response implicated Silva in the September 1986 Mexico marijuana smuggling incident.
No information has been found to indicate that Silva was questioned by CIA Security or that the Agency took other action to follow-up or verify the information linking Silva to drug trafficking. No information has been found to indicate when CIA terminated its relationship with him.
No information has been found to indicate that information regarding allegations of drug trafficking by Silva was provided to the Congress.
Mauricio Letona. Letona apparently was hired by Vortex/Universal in late 1986/early 1987 along with Haas and others under the subcontract with the prime contractor in support of CIA assistance to the Contras.
The Agency terminated its relationship with Letona on May 8, 1987. A May 13, 1987 Customs cable to CIA indicated that Letona had been suspected in 1980 of using his affiliation with an El Salvadoran airline to smuggle cocaine.
No information has been found to indicate that information regarding allegations of drug trafficking by Letona was provided to the Congress.
Stephen Herreros. The April 28, 1987 DEA response to a CIA trace request reported that Herreros was listed in the files of the El Paso Intelligence Center as having been involved in the September 1986 marijuana smuggling incident along with Palmer and other Vortex/Universal employees.
No information has been found to indicate the nature of Herreros' relationship with Vortex/Universal or that he had any relationship with CIA. No information has been found to indicate that CIA took any action regarding the information relating to Herreros and drug trafficking.
No information has been found to indicate that information regarding allegations of drug trafficking by Herreros was provided to the Congress.
What was the nature and extent of CIA's knowledge of allegations of Contra drug trafficking at the Ilopango Air Base?
Background. Between 1981 and the 1984 congressional funding cutoff, the Agency provided support services to the Contra program from the El Salvadoran air base at Ilopango--located a few miles to the east of San Salvador. Ilopango Air Base was controlled by the Salvadoran military but was used by CIA as a storage point and staging area for shipments of supplies to the Contras. In the course of these functions, CIA personnel had frequent contacts at Ilopango with Contra pilots and other personnel who came to Ilopango to pick up supplies. CIA personnel were frequently present at Ilopango and sometimes assisted when supplies were loaded onto aircraft operated by Contra pilots.
To support CIA activities at Ilopango, CIA occupied a newly constructed warehouse and hangar in 1984--commonly referred to as Hangar 5--and relocated to it activities that had been conducted in a smaller nearby hangar-- commonly referred to as Hangar 4. After CIA had moved out of Hangar 4, it was used in 1985 and 1986 by NHAO and the Private Benefactors in support of their Contra-related operations. Hangars 4 and 5 shared a common aircraft parking area and were located on a restricted area of the Ilopango air base that was controlled by the Salvadoran military. Another area of Ilopango air base was devoted to civil aviation. Access to that area reportedly was not restricted.
Following the 1984 congressional funding cutoff, supplies that remained at Ilopango were distributed to the Contras by CIA personnel. Thereafter, visits by CIA personnel to Ilopango occurred less frequently. Contra personnel, however, continued to visit Ilopango in connection with support being provided to the Contras by NHAO and the Private Benefactors.
Following congressional approval of the $100 million Contra support program in October 1986, Ilopango Air Base had much less importance to the Contra program.
There have been three main sources of allegations of drug trafficking at Ilopango—a U.S. citizen, Celerino Castillo(34) and a CIA/DEA source known as STG6. The allegations of each of these sources and what CIA knew about them are described below.
Allegations of Contra drug trafficking at Ilopango—a U.S. citizen. According to an October 23, 1986 cable to Headquarters, the "narcotics coordinator" at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa had said there would be an arrest in San Salvador of a specifically named American citizen. According to the cable, the U.S. citizen was to be arrested:
. . . on narcotics trafficking charges. [The U.S. citizen] will be arrested today or tomorrow by regional [DEA] agent [Celerino Castillo] and charged with cocaine trafficking to the U.S. [U.S. Embassy/Tegucigalpa] alerted [CIA] because [the U.S. citizen] is allegedly some way involved [sic] with [Max Gomez] and also allegedly has [United Nicaraguan Resistance/FDN Directorate] contacts and operates his business out of [Hangar 4], supposedly using [Private Benefactor] pilots and aircraft as part of his drug network. [The U.S. citizen's] home in San Salvador was raided about one month ago and guns and a variety of drugs were discovered. [DEA] believes [the U.S. citizen] will attempt to use publicity of his alleged [U.S. Government] ties to defeat any prosecution on drug charges. We have no other details on this matter and are not likely to receive more since regional [DEA representative] operates from Guatemala City. . . .
(Emphasis added.)
Allegations of Contra drug trafficking at Ilopango--former DEA Special Agent Celerino Castillo. In his book Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras & the Drug War (© Celerino Castillo III and Dave Harmon, 1994), former DEA Special Agent Celerino Castillo alleged that Ilopango was used by the Contras to support Contra drug trafficking activities. According to Powderburns, much of Castillo's information relating to alleged Contra drug trafficking at Ilopango was provided to him by DEA informants, one of whom reportedly worked at the civil air section of Ilopango air base. In Powderburns, Castillo referred to this informant at Ilopango as "Hugo Martinez."
In Powderburns, Castillo said he arrived in Guatemala in October of 1985 and served until 1990 in the regional DEA office in Guatemala City. Castillo's responsibilities while assigned to the regional DEA office included El Salvador. Castillo said that, soon after his arrival in Guatemala City, his duties brought him into contact with CIA officials both in Guatemala and in El Salvador. Castillo alleged in Powderburns that, in at least two instances, he discussed the allegations relating to Contra drug trafficking with CIA officials.
The first instance related to a discussion that Castillo said he had with the San Salvador COS in 1986. As related in Powderburns:
. . . On August 15, I met with Jack McCavett , the mild-mannered CIA station chief in El Salvador. Again, I repeated my evidence against the Contras. McCavett denied any connection between the CIA and the Ilopango operation. As far as [William] Brasher was concerned, McCavett said "He doesn't work for me. He works for the Contras and Ollie North, and we have nothing to do with that operation."
Three days later, McCavett called me into his office and pulled $45,000 in cash out of his desk drawer. "I've got money left over from my budget I need to spend," he said. "Take this for your anti-narcotics group. Go buy them some cars." McCavett didn't mention the Contras, but I suspected he was trying to buy me off. The CIA, to my knowledge, had never given the DEA this kind of gift. I wrote out a receipt and handed it to him, took the stack of bills, and gave it to Adame and Aparecio. They bought three much needed vehicles for [an El Salvadoran Police organization].
In the second instance cited in Powderburns, Castillo claimed he discussed Contra drug trafficking activities with "Randy Kapasar, a CIA agent in Guatemala:"
He knew I was investigating the Contras. I knew he was helping them. I expected him to deny my evidence of the Contras' narcotrafficking but he followed Sofi's reasoning: "Cele, how do you think the Contras are gonna make money? They've got to run dope, that's the only way we can finance this operation."
Allegations of Contra Drug Trafficking at Ilopango—STG6. CIA records indicate that, from September 16, 1986 until August 7, 1989, STG6 was an Agency contact who provided information pertaining to drug trafficking and other subjects. He was turned over to DEA following the termination of his relationship with CIA on August 7, 1989.
On at least two occasions, STG6 provided CIA with lead information that related to possible Contra drug trafficking activities at Ilopango. The first report of this nature was described in a September 23, 1986 cable to Headquarters. According to the cable, STG6 provided the names of two Colombians who were linked to Contra pilot Carlos Amador. Amador, the cable stated, was "suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking."
The second report from STG6 to CIA regarding possible Contra drug trafficking at Ilopango was described in a March 23, 1988 cable to Headquarters. According to that cable, STG6 had reported that a Guatemalan citizen and suspected drug trafficker named Reyner Veliz had recently been traveling with Contra pilot Marcos Aguado.
CIA Records: A U.S. Citizen. Apart from the U.S. citizen's claims and an April 8, 1987 cable to Headquarters reporting an unsolicited telephone call from the U.S. citizen, no information has been found to indicate that CIA had any relationship with the U.S. citizen. Also, no information has been found to indicate that the U.S. citizen's activities in El Salvador were related to the Contras in any manner, other than the October 23, 1986 cable reporting and a reference to him and the Contras in an April 25, 1986 cable--described further below--pertaining to the arrest of suspected American mercenaries in Brazil.
The April 25, 1986 cable --as mentioned earlier--also made a reference to the U.S. citizen and the Contras. This cable provided an update regarding the arrest of American citizens suspected of being mercenaries in Brazil. According to the cable, the detainees had been visited in prison by the U.S. citizen and another person, "both of whom are apparent friends of several of the detained mercenaries." Regarding the U.S. citizen, the cable stated that:
. . . visiting U.S. Consul. . . .who previously served in San Salvador, told [Consul General] on 25 April he remembers [the U.S. citizen] as being associated with [CIA] in San Salvador as a military advisor to Contras operating on the Honduran border with El Salvador.(35)
In response to the October 23, 1986 cable regarding the U.S. citizen's pending arrest in El Salvador, an October 25, 1986 Headquarters cable requested any available information regarding whether ". . . there is any truth to [the U.S. citizen's] claims of contact" with the United Nicaraguan Resistance/FDN Directorate as well as "possible operations" conducted out of Hangar 4 at Ilopango. The Headquarters cable also provided a lengthy summary of earlier instances in which the U.S. citizen's name had appeared in CIA records:
A cable had reported on August 27, 1986 that the U.S. citizen had provided night vision equipment to the Salvadoran military as part of a contract that he had with the Salvadoran Government. He reportedly told Salvadoran and U.S. military officials in El Salvador that CIA had "paid his salary in the past and made some broad hints as to a current [CIA] relationship."
A May 14, 1986 cable stated that the U.S. citizen had become a subject of investigative interest to the U.S. Customs Service's Office of Special Investigations in New York for allegedly exporting equipment not licensed for export. The U.S. Customs Service said that it would remove his name from its watchlist if his activities were connected to the CIA or other U.S. intelligence organizations. CIA file reviews had found no information to indicate that the U.S. citizen was connected to CIA and, thus, the U.S. Customs Service "intended to continue their investigation with a goal of prosecuting him." Further,
. . . the most recent incident which aroused [U.S. Customs Service] suspicions occurred on 3 May 1986 when [the U.S. citizen] was supposedly forced to make an emergency landing in his plane in the general area of Tamiami, Florida. [He] told fire department officials who responded to his landing that he was carrying two large cases of top secret material (whether equipment or documents unclear). He asked the fire department people to secure the material while he went to the nearest airport to clear customs. After having gone through a clearance procedure which made no mention of the "sensitive" material, [the U.S. citizen] returned to the fire department building, retrieved his two cases, and disappeared. As a result of this and other incidents, [he] was placed on an [U.S. Customs Service] watchlist which would ensure a very stringent search of him and his possessions/vehicles any time he surfaced at an [U.S. Customs Service] office or branch.
A May 15, 1986 cable reported that, following the May 3 crash, DEA personnel had asked if CIA had any connection with the U.S. citizen. According to the summary, DEA had reported that he told firemen responding to the crash that three Salvadoran passengers traveling with him were being transported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina "on behalf of [CIA]" The U.S. citizen, according to DEA, reportedly offered the firemen a $100 bribe if they "would not report his activity relative to the Salvadorans to authorities." The cable had also stated that DEA planned a "follow-up investigation" of the U.S. citizen on suspicion of narcotics trafficking.
July 1, 1986, cable reported that at a June 27, 1986 meeting with FBI and Metro Dade Police Department representatives that, when the U.S. citizen returned to retrieve two suitcases that he had left in the custody of fire officials following the crash, he was accompanied by a Metro Dade reserve police officer "who also claimed connection with [CIA] and vouched for [him]." According to the summary, further inquiry into the Metro Dade reserve police officer's involvement in the matter had been delayed by police officials "for fear of interfering with a [CIA] operation." The cable went on to state that a review of CIA files at that time had revealed no information concerning the reserve police officer or the names of the Salvadorans who allegedly were passengers on the U.S. citizen's airplane.
According to an October 29, 1986 response to the October 25 Headquarters cable, "preliminary checks" with senior Contra officials regarding any contacts between the FDN and the U.S. citizen were "negative."
A March 26, 1987 cable to Headquarters reported that the U.S. citizen and another individual had been arrested by Dominican Republic authorities upon landing an airplane in that country. The airplane contained various types of military-related equipment. According to the cable:
[The U.S. citizen and his companion] also claim to be involved in military training in Central America and are reluctant to discuss what they are doing and for whom. Intentional or not, they are leaving the impression that they are working for [CIA].
A March 27, 1987 cable to Headquarters reported that the U.S. citizen had recently sought to sell equipment to the Venezuelan Government and that a Venezuelan official said that the U.S. citizen "showed him 'State Department credentials' . . . and [he] claimed that he worked for [a Central American Station']."
A March 27, 1987, cable in response to the March 26, 1987 report summarized what was known about the U.S. citizen's activities in El Salvador:
[The U.S. citizen] has falsely represented himself on prior occasions as being associated with [CIA]. He has no relationship with [CIA] but he was in San Salvador until two or three months ago, trying to sell weapons and military gear of various kinds to the Salvadoran military. He left El Salvador in a hurry after a police search of his house here uncovered a large quantity of various unlicensed, unregistered military arms, including hand grenades. When last we heard he was under investigation by U.S. Customs in relation to this incident. He was also under investigation earlier by DEA for possible narcotics smuggling. He seems to have a history of inventing supposed contacts with the USG[overnment], particularly [CIA], which he then uses to pursue his various business interests.
. . . .
According to an April 8, 1987 cable to Headquarters and several Stations, a CIA officer serving abroad had received an unsolicited telephone call from the U.S. citizen. The cable reported that he told the officer during the call that he had been given the officer's name and telephone number from the commanding officer of the USMILGROUP. The cable, in noting that the commanding officer of the USMILGROUP was out of town, said the gist of the U.S. citizen's conversation with the officer was:
"You don't know me, but I got your name from [commanding officer, USMILGROUP]. I was just down there and I sell night vision equipment. [Commanding officer, USMILGROUP] thought it might be a good idea to talk to you." [The U.S. citizen] said he planned another visit . . . . on/about 24/25 April and wondered if there would be an opportunity to talk with [the officer].
In a follow-on cable on April 9, 1997 to Headquarters, it was confirmed that the commanding officer of the USMILGROUP had indeed passed the officer's name and phone number to the U.S. citizen after telling the COS that "there was DoD contractor in town selling the . . . military night vision equipment and wanted to know if the police would have any interest." According to the cable, the commanding officer of the USMILGROUP did not mention the name of the contractor, but had passed the officer's name to the U.S. citizen on the assumption that the COS would concur.
In an April 10, 1987 cable, Headquarters provided guidance with respect to contacts with the U.S. citizen:
[Headquarters] appreciates information provided . . . . regarding telephone conversation with [the U.S. citizen]. As Station is aware, [he] is notorious for falsely claiming [CIA] affiliation in addition to his involvement in other nefarious schemes. In light of this fact, Station is urged to politely but firmly refuse further contact with [the U.S. citizen]. Please advise any further attempts by [him] to contact other Station/Mission personnel.
According to an April 13, 1987 cable to Headquarters, :
. . . MILGROUP commander is in contact with [the U.S. citizen] and presumably will meet with [him] when latter arrives near end of month. We have no desire to give [him] another window into this mission and we will follow [the April 10 Headquarters] guidance accordingly, but wonder . . . whether it would be more in line with an embassy officer to hear him out and then turn off the contact? . . . .
The cable also asked Headquarters "whether we should have [the U.S. citizen's] plane carefully searched. We think the Customs Police should do so."
In its April 16, 1987 response, Headquarters provided explicit instructions: "Station to avoid contact with [the U.S. citizen]." Further, the Headquarters cable stated that:
. . . .
[The U.S. citizen] must be considered [a United States] person since he is evidently a resident and able to freely enter and exit the country. [CIA] should not become involved in making any decision whether or not to search his plane. We note that there is no indication in [his] file of any warrant outstanding against him.
. . . .
The U.S. citizen's name appears in other Agency cables. However, as stated earlier, no information has been found to indicate that he or his activities had any connection to CIA or the Contras.
CIA Records: Castillo's contacts with CIA officials. CIA records indicate that in mid-1986, CIA planned an expenditure of $45,000 to purchase three vehicles for the Government of El Salvador. The money was accounted for in CIA records on August 18, 1986, the same date Castillo alleged in Powderburns that he received $45,000 from a person he refers to as COS McCavett. Although no information has been found to indicate the process by which the vehicles were purchased and given over to the Salvadorans, no information has been found to indicate that the transaction involved Castillo or DEA in any manner.
CIA Records: Contacts with STG6. STG6 became a CIA contact in late 1986. CIA records indicate that DEA had an ongoing operational interest in STG6. According to a November 18, 1987 cable to Headquarters, a regional DEA office had indicated that this particular individual was a "source of information regarding illegal aircraft movements/narcotics trafficking" at Ilopango air base.
A January 18, 1988, cable to Headquarters noted that the DEA representative had said that the DEA regional chief had been briefed regarding STG6 prior to DEA expressing interest in him:
STG6 has access to valuable and unique information by virtue of his job and [he] said that [DEA] needs this data regarding movement of aircraft in the region. Station wished to pass this view so that appropriate STG6 information can be passed to [DEA] for action.
Information provided by STG6, on occasion, was transmitted with a request that the information be passed to the regional DEA office or shared directly with a representative from the regional DEA office during meetings with CIA personnel. Of these reports, only one had any apparent Contra connection:
A March 23, 1988 cable indicating that Guatemalan citizen and suspected drug trafficker Reyner Veliz was traveling with Contra pilot Marcos Aguado. Included in this cable was a request that this information be passed to the regional DEA office with the following caveat: "Please omit specific locations of travel and location of source [i.e., STG6]"."
According to a July 31, 1989 cable to Headquarters, CIA officers met with a representative from the DEA's regional office in Guatemala City on July 24-28, 1989. As a result of that meeting, an offer was made to the DEA representative to turnover STG6 to DEA.
According to an August 1, 1989 cable, DEA "definitely agrees to take over STG6." Headquarters approved the turnover of him in an August 2, 1989 cable.
Individual Statements: CIA personnel. A CIA officer who was closely aware of events at Ilopango during the 1981-1983 time frame and from May 1984 until May 1986 recalls that, until the 1984 congressional cutoff of funds, he had frequent contacts with Contra pilots. After the cutoff, these contacts diminished, although certain authorized contacts were permitted to continue.
The officer says he has no knowledge of drug trafficking at Ilopango. He comments that he frequently observed and--prior to the 1984 funding cutoff--sometimes assisted with the loading of supplies onto Contra aircraft at Ilopango. He is very doubtful that illicit drugs could have been placed on board Contra aircraft during the times he was present. Moreover, he notes that the aircraft he observed being loaded with supplies were destined, not for the United States, but for Contras operating in Central America. Following the 1984 funding cutoff, he says he continued to observe and monitor the activities of Contra aircraft.
According to the officer, the Salvadoran Air Force provided the Contra pilots with identification cards that allowed the pilots to bypass Salvadoran customs upon landing at Ilopango and also allowed them unrestricted access to the air base. He says the commanding officer of Ilopango, General Juan Bustillo, was a staunch supporter of the Contras and, because of this support, he authorized the pilots to be issued the identification cards to facilitate such access. The CIA, according to the officer, had nothing to do with the issuance or control of these identification cards.
The officer says Contra pilots sometimes parked their aircraft at a location some distance away and in an area of the military side of Ilopango that was not easily observable from the base control tower or from the nearby civilian side of the airfield. Particularly after the 1984 funding cutoff, Contra planes could easily come and go from Ilopango without CIA knowledge, he says.
A helicopter pilot who worked for a CIA contractor at Ilopango from 1984 until 1986 says he was instructed by CIA to keep Contra personnel at arms length following the 1984 funding cutoff. He says he has no knowledge of Contras using Ilopango for drug trafficking.
A senior CIA officer who was aware of CIA activities at Ilopango does not recall learning of any specific allegation relating to Contra use of Ilopango to support any drug trafficking activities. He does, however, recall that there were unsubstantiated drug-related allegations against Contra pilot Marcos Aguado.
Another senior officer recalls that he asked the officer who was closely aware of events at Ilopango to look into allegations of drug trafficking by the Contras or others and that the officer was never able to confirm any of the allegations.
A third senior officer who had some awareness of activities at Ilopango says he has no knowledge of Ilopango being used by the Contras for drug trafficking.
Another officer who possibly would have been aware of activities at Ilopango says he knows of no Contra drug trafficking activity at Ilopango and opines that the Salvadoran Ilopango base commander, General Bustillo, would not have tolerated such activity.
Another retired CIA officer who frequently visited Ilopango says that he has no recollection of Contras coming through Ilopango during his tour in Ilopango. "I can be definite that [the Contras] never came to my attention," he says.
An officer who says he met former DEA Special Agent Celerino Castillo in Guatemala and, on one occasion, worked with him and others on a project unrelated to the Contras, recalls Castillo discussing suspected narcotics trafficking at Ilopango, but recalls that Castillo made no specific reference to possible Contra involvement in those activities. Contrary to Castillo's claims, this officer emphatically denies that he had any knowledge of Contra drug trafficking activities at Ilopango or elsewhere. He also denies that he made any statement to Castillo relating to such knowledge. He also denies that he ever asked Castillo to back away from any narcotics investigation.
Felix Rodriguez retired from CIA in 1976. He was an advisor to the Salvadoran military in a private capacity at Ilopango from February 1985 until the late 1980s.(36) Rodriguez also assisted the Private Benefactors at Ilopango in providing aid to the Contras. Rodriguez states that he has no knowledge of any alleged Contra drug trafficking activities being conducted from Ilopango or elsewhere. Rodriguez also says he personally knew the U.S. citizen in El Salvador, that he dealt with the Salvadoran military as a salesman of various military related equipment and that he had no apparent links to the Contras. Rodriguez denies having any knowledge of any alleged drug trafficking by the U.S. citizen, but says he understands that he was banned from making further sales to the Salvadoran military when Salvadoran officials determined that he was allegedly charging the Salvadoran military exorbitant prices for military equipment.
Individual Statements: DEA Personnel. A DEA intelligence analyst recalls that he participated in DEA's review of Castillo's allegations regarding drug trafficking activities at Ilopango. The analyst also states that he participated in DEA's coordination of the January 21, 1987 Memorandum from Acting DCI Robert Gates regarding allegations of Contra drug trafficking that was requested by Assistant Secretary of State for INR Morton Abramowitz. He recalls that DEA found no information to support Castillo's allegations linking the Contras to drug trafficking. "It was [DEA's] experience that all of the Contra allegations lacked substance . . . ," he asserts.
Individual Statements: A U.S. Citizen. The U.S. citizen denies any involvement in smuggling weapons or drugs. He says he never worked for CIA and was never recruited to work for CIA. He also says his only connection with the Contras was that he once met "one Contra pilot" briefly. He says he does not recall the pilot's name or the particular circumstance of the meeting. The U.S. citizen claims that Salvadoran authorities allowed him to utilize Hanger 3--not Hangars 4 or 5--at Ilopango to install equipment in Salvadoran military helicopters. According to the U.S. citizen, CIA controlled Hangars 4 and 5 and he never entered those hangars.
Information Sharing with Other U.S. Government Entities. In addition to the instances described earlier wherein information relating to alleged drug trafficking at Ilopango was shared with DEA, allegations that Ilopango air base may have been used by the Contras for drug trafficking were discussed in the January 21, 1987 Memorandum from Gates to Abramowitz concerning alleged Contra drug trafficking connections that was coordinated with other Intelligence Community agencies and DEA prior to its dissemination. According to the Memorandum:
In March 1986, DEA/Guatemala began receiving reports of suspicious activities at Ilopango Airfield in San Salvador, El Salvador. According to . . . DEA [information], a hangar at the airfield was being used by traffickers to store cocaine en route to the U.S. The hangar reportedly was being used in transporting arms to the Contras. DEA/Guatemala investigated these reports and decided there was insufficient evidence to warrant pursuing a drug investigation. DEA did, however, inform the U.S. Customs Service of other information discovered in the course of the investigation that related to possible weapons smuggling activity.
In a January 21, 1987 letter to Abramowitz that accompanied the Memorandum regarding alleged Contra drug connections, ADCI Gates discussed DEA plans regarding allegations of drug-related activity at Ilopango:
We are told that DEA Headquarters plans to follow up on the matter of the adequacy of DEA/Guatemala's investigation of alleged drug trafficking at Ilopango Airfield in El Salvador . . . . DEA will report additional information as it becomes available. The Intelligence Community has no information independent of DEA regarding this matter.
A March 31, 1988 Office of Congressional Affairs Memorandum for the Record indicates that SSCI Staff Director Sven Holmes was provided a copy of the Gates-Abramowitz Memorandum on March 29, 1988.
To what extent did CIA disseminate "finished intelligence products" that included information about drug trafficking on the part of individuals, organizations, and independent contractors associated with the Contras?(37)
The Analytic Environment. Agency analysts who were responsible for counternarcotics issues during the 1980s indicate that three factors accounted for the small number of finished intelligence products during the 1980s that related at all to the Contras and narcotics trafficking. First, Central America in general was not a high priority counternarcotics target for the Agency before 1986. This reflected primarily the focus of U.S. Government policymakers on Latin American drug suppliers, in particular the Medellin Cartel in Colombia. According to a CIA officer, who was Assistant National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Narcotics from 1984 to 1986 and Chief of a division in the DI's Office of Global Issues (OGI) dealing with international narcotics from 1986 to 1989, the counternarcotics effort was "consumed" with the Medellin Cartel because it was the main actor in the cocaine trade. The Agency concentrated on targets, such as the Cartel, as to which DEA had operations underway or in the planning stages that intelligence could support.
The CIA officer recalls that Central America was on the screen occasionally because the Colombian cartels were setting up alternative transit routes there--particularly in Guatemala and Nicaragua--in an effort to circumvent the U.S. interdiction effort. Even so, the region was "just a blip on the scope" for the most part. This CIA officer and several other Agency analysts note that, with respect to Nicaragua, the U.S. policy focus was on the Sandinista Government's involvement in narcotics trafficking--not on that of the Contras. The policymakers, one analyst asserts, really wanted to "get" the Sandinistas on this subject.
The second factor, which was a consequence of U.S. policymaker priorities, was that the DO assigned a low priority to collecting intelligence concerning the Contras alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking. As a result, Agency analysts had only a small number of reports on which to base their analysis. According to CIA records, only three DO reports regarding Contra drug trafficking were found to have been disseminated between October and December 1984. These were the reports describing the alleged agreement between Pastora's associates and a Miami-based drug trafficker involving material support for the Contras in return for the trafficker's access to the Southern Front's pilots and landing strips.
Furthermore, the reports were disseminated as "Sensitive Memorandums," a format that required strict access control. The internal dissemination lists for the reports indicate that all three were shared with the Directorate of Intelligence's (DI's) Office of African and Latin American Analysis and with the National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Latin America. The NIO for Narcotics received two of the three reports. However, the Office of Global Issues (OGI), which was responsible for counternarcotics analysis in the DI, did not receive copies of the reports. Further, the strict access controls made it difficult for analysts to incorporate information from the reports into finished intelligence products that would have a broader dissemination.
The analyst who drafted a Memorandum for Vice President Bush in April 1986 that related to potential Contras' involvement in drug trafficking recalls that OGI analysts who worked on counternarcotics issues were not aware of those reports at the time--October to December 1984--that they were first disseminated inside and outside the Agency. However, she says that CATF Chief Fiers did make the reporting available to her in April 1986, stipulating that it could be used only for the Memorandum she was preparing for Vice President Bush.
A CIA officer, who was a Division Chief in ALA from 1984 to 1986, says that he does not recall any significant reporting in autumn 1984 with respect to the alleged agreement between Pastora's associates and Miami drug trafficker Morales. Nor does he recall any credible narcotics reporting during his tenure that would have merited treatment in a finished intelligence product.
The Assistant NIO and the then-NIO for Latin America say that the DI was largely unaware of the totality of DO reporting on the issue of Contras and narcotics trafficking. The former of the two officers notes that there was a sharp divide in those days between the DO and DI narcotics analysis and there was not a "free flow of information." He states that, although the DO would cooperate in providing information for certain high priority tasking such as the January 21, 1987 Memorandum from ADCI Gates to Assistant Secretary of State Abramowitz, the DO had to be pulled along on the counternarcotics effort for the most part. The former of the two officers adds that the DO became very engaged in Latin America after April 1986.
The then-NIO for Latin America says that ALA's Division and the DO's LA Division had an agreement that the ALA analysts could review relevant operational cables. LA Division, however, determined what was relevant, and "so-called administrative traffic" involving DO assets was off limits. Further, he states that the DI and National Intelligence Council did not believe that the Contras were an effective insurgent force, thus causing problems for CATF. Consequently, he says, he always felt that Fiers was not showing the analysts any reporting that would cause problems for the Contra program. He cannot document what reporting might have been withheld from him "because . . . you don't know what you're not seeing."
The former ALA Division Chief says that the relationship between his DI division and CATF was fairly collaborative even though Fiers would not be at the top of his list of good collaborators. He asserts that Fiers "played a lot of things close to his vest" as he should have. However, everything of substance was fully discussed among Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, Fiers and the NIO/Latin America. He recalls discussions of Contra stealing, smuggling and other wrongdoing, but no discussion of narcotics trafficking. Narcotics was not one of the topics of concern at the time.
An officer, who served as LA Division Chief of Reports from 1979 to mid-1984 and then served as the ALA Division Chief's deputy in the DI until 1986, says that she is not aware that anyone associated with the Agency suppressed reporting concerning drug trafficking by the Contras. She avers that she would have been "in Fiers' face" were he to "fool with the information to make [CIA] look good." Concerning the lack of finished intelligence concerning the Contras and drug trafficking, she states that the issue would not become apparent without DO reporting, and the analysts would keep whatever information became available in a file until there was a reason to do something with it.
The third factor explaining why very little finished intelligence was produced by the DI regarding Contra drug trafficking was that Agency analysts had limited access to reporting from federal law enforcement agencies at the time. The former ALA Division Deputy Chief points out that DEA, not the DO, was the primary collector of narcotics trafficking information in the early 1980s. Along these lines, one DI analyst recalls that DEA was even reluctant to provide this reporting, probably because it pertained to ongoing investigations.(38) A senior DI officer recalls that CIA analysts had routine access to strategic and tactical DEA intelligence reporting, but not to law enforcement investigative and operational information.
CIA only disseminated three finished intelligence products during the 1980s that related at all to potential Contra involvement in narcotics trafficking. These were: (i) a 1985 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concerning the international narcotics trade; (ii) an April 1986 Memorandum for Vice President George Bush; and (iii) the January 1987 Memorandum from Acting DCI Robert Gates to Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Morton Abramowitz.
1985 National Intelligence Estimate. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) 1/8-85, "The International Narcotics Trade: Implications for US Security," was published in November 1985. One paragraph dealt with trends in the "narcotics industry" and noted that the "continued expansion of trafficking routes through Central America" was of "particular concern because of the number of antigovernment insurgent groups active there." The paragraph went on to note:
We have no confirmed reports that link Central American insurgent groups with drug trafficking, but we cannot rule out the possibility that individual contacts have already occurred.
The estimate made no explicit reference to the Contras or any other specific insurgent group in Central America.
A senior DI officer says that the Contras were not dealt with in the NIE because the focus of the estimate was on the "bad guys"--individuals, groups, and governments, such as the Sandinistas, that were hostile to U.S. interests. The Contras, he states, were regarded as friends and were outside the scope of the Estimate. There was never any discussion about including them; "it just never came up." The then-NIO does not recall any discussion among Intelligence Community analysts who participated in the production of the NIE concerning the acquisition of more intelligence reporting concerning insurgent groups and their ties to narcotics traffickers.
1986 Memorandum for Vice President Bush. On April 6, 1986, a Memorandum entitled "Contra Involvement in Drug Trafficking" was prepared by CIA at the request of Vice President Bush. The Memorandum provided a summary of information that had been received in late 1984 regarding the alleged agreement between Southern Front Contra leader Eden Pastora's associates and Miami-based drug trafficker Jorge Morales. Morales reportedly had offered financial and aircraft support for the Contras in exchange for FRS pilots to "transship" Colombian cocaine to the United States. CIA disseminated this memorandum only to the Vice President.
The DI/OGI analyst who drafted the Memorandum says that there was no follow-up. Furthermore, the analyst recalls no further DI discussion of the Contras' alleged involvement in drug trafficking until the Memorandum that was written for Assistant Secretary of State Abramowitz in 1987.
1987 Memorandum for Abramowitz. The most comprehensive discussion of alleged Contra narcotics trafficking was included in a January 21, 1987 Memorandum from Acting DCI Robert Gates to DoS Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research Morton Abramowitz. The genesis of this Memorandum, entitled "Assessment of Alleged Connections Between Drug Traffickers and Anti-Sandinista ('Contra') Groups," was a January 9, 1987 memorandum from Abramowitz to then-Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Gates indicating that Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams had expressed concern about the possible involvement of Contras in narcotics trafficking and had requested an Intelligence Community study "on an urgent basis." The memorandum from Abramowitz indicated that Abrams wanted the study "to pull together all foreign and domestically-generated information that is available, rumors and all, and provide an assessment of the credibility of the charges." Further, the memorandum to Gates indicated:
The Assistant Secretary believes that it is essential that we know before the rest of the world if any of those whom we have funded are engaged in this business so that they can be expelled from the ranks of the resistance.
The Memorandum to Abramowitz was written under the auspices of the NIO/Narcotics and was drafted jointly by officers from the DO and the DI's Office of African and Latin American Analysis. In addition to DO reporting, the assessment relied heavily on DEA information. Six topics were addressed, including:
Allegations discussed in three disseminated DO reports of October, November and December, 1984 concerning Pastora, Adolfo Chamorro, Gerardo Duran, David Mayorga, and Jorge Morales;
Statements to FBI and DEA undercover agents by Orlando Bolanos, who claimed to be in command of an anti-communist movement in Nicaragua called the " Internal Front," that he planned to smuggle cocaine into the United States;
The Frogman Case, which involved Nicaraguan drug traffickers who had been apprehended in early 1983 while swimming ashore near San Francisco, including information indicating that an unnamed suspected drug trafficker had placed 51 calls to a telephone in the FDN office in San Francisco that was later learned to have been listed to one of the defendants in the case. The defendant's name was not given;