CIA Inspector Acknowledges CIA-Crack Connection

CIA-DRUG ALLEGATIONS March-April 1998

CIA Inspector General Frederick R. Hitz told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 16 that there were ties between the CIA and Central American drug dealers who supported Nicaraguan contra rebels in the 1980s (Walter Pincus, "Inspector: CIA Kept Ties With Alleged Traffickers," Washington Post, March 17, 1998, p. A12; "CIA Official Defends Paper's Allegations," Orange County Register, March 17, 1998, p. 9).

Hitz said, "There are instances where CIA did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug-trafficking activity or take action to resolve the allegations." Hitz reiterated the CIA's denial of connections to two Nicaraguan drug dealers in the 1980s alleged in a 1996 San Jose Mercury News report (see "CIA Allegedly Linked to Crack Epidemic in Los Angeles," NewsBriefs, October 1996). Reps. Norman D. Dicks (D-WA), ranking democrat on the committee, and Maxine Waters (D-CA) called for the committee to launch its own investigation of the allegations.

CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz - CIA, Inspector General, Room 2X3L, Washington, DC 20505, Tel: (202) 874-2553, Fax: (202) 734-9649.

Rep. Norman Dicks - 2467 RHOB, Washington, DC 20515, Tel: (202) 225-5916, Fax: (202) 226-1176.

Rep. Maxine Waters - 2344 RHOB, Washington, DC 20515, Tel: (202) 225-2201, Fax: (202) 225-7854.