IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES OF THE COLOMBIAN DRUG TRADE - SPECIAL NATION

Created: 6/28/1983

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

VOLUMEE

tUhlr4 H

ft 'ii f.

' 'isi r-

fHIS ESTIMATE IS ISSUED BY THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRALINTELLIGENCE.

HE NATIONAL FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE BOARD CONCURS,XCEPT AS NOTED IN THE TEXT.

organizations participated in the preparation of lhe

ol SloH lo<Qtporlmenl ol rh*o<tm*nt olNavy CWtl ol Sloll,oJ Ih* Air forceolMdquortwiyMario* Co.pi

unlu ia Ih* [Vug En'arcomtnt AdmWitrehon.ol Jwikc. ond in ih. JledCuitoM Utvk: Deporlmenl olTreowry. olioNd heavilyprepoiatien ol thii Eltimol..

he Deftma Ixldiftnc* Aowvy,Naltonot Sewrify <Kf, ord It* intriJoetv.oni(ot*ofli olCMparlrTWAti ol Slou ond Traotbry.

"CRET

.Colombia has long been plagued by armed iosur-iJ^geni grouw/guenlllai. ,and bandUs. Ttirorbmeen eodemic In certain* rural areas since at leas' lhehe.|scCTrity forces have been able to contain these groups', but have not succeeded Innding,their Activities. In the earlynh of April Movementas s'"j" fmuided by several dluldent radicals. In general, these niaupi.ne vaguely ot explicitly leftist.

Tbew'groups occasionally carry out; actions that embarrass government forces and attract 'ijittention, but thev do not threaten thc existence of the. Colombian Government. Ci theozen groups now active (seewo are clearly much, larger and .ol more concern toecurityArmed Forces of Colombia (FARQ -

Insurgents

bideit, largest, and currently theorganisation Inhe Illicit drug business to Influence on the moralideal In fact, the FARC even the irjffkken aad burningarioui FARC businessay of supple-on extortion, kidnap-

. .*

hese guerrilla*groups initially avoided all* Motions with narcotic] growers and traffickers, excepto condemn the: corrupting influence of drugs onolooibiir. society. Now, however, several have devel-oped active .links with,the drug trade, other* extort protection money from'(traffIckers. and some appar> ewly iBeDrofits'fronydrugs to buy arms. .

secjvt

WfOto/NOfiONTtACT/OIICON

FARC io some mni etlah-

I lilted Wiign. and dilri (nr workers.

i-lutm, ind owners offitldf Somenf thbcoca

1 i.

! und to buy

the FARC move into theto lhe guerrilla organization, leader has heeV accused roe FARC fronituarter* in order toARC front hat been rea for political -

most.widely known of cause of its sensational in Bogota tn Febru-bauadiir and utheri

Colombian Com mi FARC it appealedand an end to ialnly Irllviing youths and It In Ihr cities la atlract)PI. ahienlarged ils score to include rural actionewmow- Uokfll ialo'anlarea'of drug activity. Nearlyacmberi.ew Panama nuns, who had had training Innfiltrated back infovia Panamaid of tome member* of the KiwiUMUan National CuardJ Within weeks,killedaptured and the Panamanian aaJ_ connection* eipovd Thitlocnbia lo lutpend diplomatic rrlilioni alto Cuba and ttrained its reUtkons'wtth Panama. s. igl.fi

I:

The Cuillot Lara caie, ducutted on, demotiit rates that9 re.*eivcd armt Colombian drug-trafficking link facilitated by Cubanill tlnv-'1

ing in OJoiLbij. Tbete8 .vlll 'iperatmsrug-growing area may not remain entirety aloof from ihii lucrative buiinro.

Tha "Cuban Connection"

i-inbe

| Nieara-

iv* provided training Ua smalloute to t'.l Salvador.

uban involvement with and tuppta! for (ii-

The Cutltot Lara casenset- it proofba hat utedombiin drug umigaling netwivka tu mow arms, In Oilnmlrian insurgent. In this vase Cuban olftcitb and Oilumbian drug Irafftvkvrt were clearly associated in facilitating narcolics shipment* to the L'niled Stales. Cuillnt paid the Cubans In hard currency and uted.hit vesteb and tmuggling network to mnvc aimi Ui (jylombia for thenher hand, Cuba rather routinely searches some drug-tmugglintj shipi found In Cuban waters, vniifacali's drugt found, ami oflen impri<oni tbe crews.

We do not know the ettent lo which Cuba has continued to facilitate drug trafficking, either for money nr arms, but these efficient traffickingoffer that potential whenever Cuba chooses toIt. The tame mechanisms are available to the Colombian inturscntf. with or without Cnltan help Thus far, at lean, tlury do nol teem lo be depending onm ncv to buy armt or tupporl themtelvet.

m

o

taifchjie arms in the Uniled Stales (orjHol^nirtfeised to Met lean authorities lhal on ,he traveled lombian portli boal Zar de Honduras had "ilof ihc arms cargo. The arms 'red to lhe Zar from the Karinaanama. From Di bulla the arms i. clandestine "airstrip,9 members untilijacked Aero ircrafi. Iransportrd them toiverVo live Colombianombian Navy sankith the remaining arms on board, off jj! Shewst cWof Colombia. Oi.ovember

irtsiruetlona to procure armi In Miami {shipment

Presumablyj concerned that ColombiantSoiiilei were aware of his activities because of *seizures, of has arms-Laden ships offCe-lomban COaB. Cull lot met with two Cubankers In Mexico Citybet. The Cubani reportedly provided CuiilntIn *money (or livlna expenses

{arid obtaining Mexican documentation and_ tassiuar "

* Onovember Mexican authorities arrestedrm^lmmigTBtion charges. The Cubanapp|oa"ched the Mexican Government In Id-December! regarding the release of Culllot:

.rump was arrested tn Mum ir-uarvmmigration charges und is now participating in the continuing invesligalinm.

Following Cuillol'solombian nuthori-lics reouesied thai Meslco extradite him to Colombia. Mexico rcicctcd the request on the ground) that it dideet Mexican legal standards, and subseoncntly sent him to Spain.

Cuban Foliev andegarding Narcotic* Trafficking. The CuilltH casethe first solid evidence we have obtained nf (tubaii Covertiment involvement in narcotic* trafficking. The Castro governmenturitanical stancenarcotics use, viewing It as symptomatic of mnraland capitalist decadence. Domestichas been vigorous and has stri-ssril rcpecv xintt rather than rehabilitation. Cuban authorities have traditionally cracked down hard nuirn ilnveil into Cuban territory Many aircraft and ships seeking lafehaiett ham breti searched thoroughly, and. inheir crews have been jailed timplt on suspicion of IranspiMlIng Illegal cargoes.

We do not know who in the Cuban (lnvcm-ment controlled the Cuillotr wMWr similar arrangements have been madeIi other traffickers. CKen the level of Outllnt'i Cuhan Kiniacl) and the political implications of the arrangements, the operation was almost certainli -approved at the highest level" cl the Havana giwernmenl. If the Cuillol affair wereaie of corruption bv local or midlcvrl securil* offn-ali In Cuba, it Is unlikely that the Cuban Embassies In Bogota and Meilco CHv and nfli-cers from the America Depart mem ofrmiminilt Parly Central Committee would have been Involved. Moreover, senior Cuban officials receive ample material benefits from the slate, and Cub. offers few expensive aitrac-ttotls that would absnrh such enormous pri<ceedst

Plauiihle Denial. L'je of established enntra-hand facilities to transportnsurgent and terrorist organizations allows the (jilian* lorevolution while maintaining plausibleDuring the Ntcaraguan revoliitinn the Cav Iro regime used professional arms smugglers lu hide its hand In channeling weapons andt'i the Sandintala Iniurgrnls. The lucccit in Nicaragua9 ledimilar Cubaallianceupplying Salvadoran guerrilla).

ficially

Man militarytheumber ofmilitary officer! have had operational contact*il and lhat the MAS is now highlyd andmesuge-thal Ibe police and even the centers. Thb compartaid to account foringle Important *

lhe difficulty the AC hai had In hb attempt* tn(;

ignoring due proceu. Linda fatal denuni'lcd thiilbe'cliailiied and" lubmiiiedn irslgriatlon he considered ihb lo be an allark luuimlut ion While tlieiedsome-hat imcc then, ii Is clear thai the accuu>louched some raw .'

investigate IL Moreover, many of the killing* 'lonehe name nf MAS may have been done Infficers who me lhe nameonnniaal'

lf> It worn profMhle lhat mw military penuautrlt^both trading on <he MAS name and are al Initk? In vol id tnctivities. At lhe iimr limr.jj.appear* in have cap*ndedustergroup* (UVe caillrmcri and ranchenlIo resist the kidnaping* and eilnrlliin elforli ofiniurg#nc group* and common

hatever |hr eitent of Ihr tin hrlwevfl MAS and the military, they can only terve lo liirtlicr inhibit forceful action again* the majoetrafficker* associatedMAS This -nvjld be irwe even if ihoae military officer* imnlved timplywith MAStheir romnemy. the Inwrqent-rilnftnin-Ut groups II would lie even more worrivtine II.lime, the military hevumc mureimrdved in the lucrative putlneis.

Original document.

---

---