NCJ Number
115885
Date Published
1988
Length
445 pages
Annotation
This first in a series of hearing on drug trafficking in the Western hemisphere focuses on Panama, and particularly the involvement of General Manuel Antonio Noriega in the international narcotics trade.
Abstract
Testimony by Senators, the former consul General of Panama, the Chairman of Legislative Affairs, and three Federal prisoners convicted on drug-related charges describes the involvement of Noriega in a variety of criminal enterprises, the political history and current situation in Panama, and the implications of these for drug law enforcement and national policy. Testimony details investigation of the illicit activities engaged in a 10-year period by Noriega and other high-level officials of the Panamanian defense forces. Testimony by the three Federal prisoners discusses Noriega's direct and personal involvement in money laundering, drug and arms trafficking, illegal business deals, the sale of passports and visas, murder, and other forms of official corruption and malfeasance. Also detailed are suppression of the media and human rights abuses in Panama and possible political solutions to the crisis in that Country. Interactions between Noriega and international drug cartels and the use of commercial airlines to smuggle narcotics from Columbia into the United States via Panama also are considered. It is noted that these conditions have not only increased the availability of narcotics in the United States but have hampered the war on drugs and compromised National security. Decertification of Panama and the imposition of economic sanctions are recommended. Supplemental materials are appended.