Castillo, Celerino III and Harmon, Dave. Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras and the Drug War. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press (Sundial), 1994. 240 pages.
There were a number of semi-suppressed stories during the Iran-contra scandal concerning the link between the contras and cocaine. Celerino Castillo knows about it first-hand. An all-American true believer, Castillo fought in Vietnam from 1971-1972, where he saw the effects of drugs on U.S. troops. By 1975 he was a Texas cop, later a detective working drug cases. In 1980 he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration and worked the streets of New York. Then it was off to Peru in 1984-1985, and Guatemala from 1985-1990. While stationed in Guatemala, Castillo was the DEA agent in charge of anti- drug operations in El Salvador from 1985-1987. This is when he discovered that Oliver North's contras were running cocaine from the Ilopango airport.He did his best to bust them, but they were protected by the CIA. "By the end of 1988," he writes, "I realized how hopelessly tangled DEA, the CIA, and every other U.S. entity in Central America had become with the criminals. The connections boggled my mind" (page 208). His life was in danger, and he got out in a hurry in 1990. DEA, meanwhile, was increasing the pressure with an internal investigation of Castillo. His career was over and he resigned. Lawrence Walsh's office extensively debriefed Castillo, but when Walsh released his massive report in 1993, the narcotics connection was nowhere to be found. End of story -- until this obscure book was published.
Levine, Michael. Deep Cover: The Inside Story of How DEA Infighting, Incompetence, and Subterfuge Lost Us the Biggest Battle of the Drug War. New York: Delacorte Press, 1990. 319 pages.
Michael Levine was a supervisor in the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Administration when he retired. By then he could brag of a 25-year career that put at least 3,000 criminals behind bars and seized several tons of illegal drugs; he even penetrated the Bolivian cartel. But ultimately he despaired of an even more difficult enemy -- the "suits" from DEA and other agencies in their air-conditioned offices, who were more interested in self-serving career moves than in locking up dealers.Levine has a low opinion of the CIA. This is not uncommon in the DEA, whose agents often suspect the CIA of following its own agenda and protecting those drug dealers considered to be intelligence assets. But Levine is especially upset over the behind-the-scenes mismanagement, disorganization, negligence, and bureaucratic rivalry that is typical of the much-ballyhooed war on drugs. It might be comical if the stakes weren't so high. For Levine, who spent much of his career as an international undercover agent trying to nail some very nasty people, they stakes were about as high as they can get. By the time he retired in 1989, Levine felt that he had won the battle but lost the war.
Levine, Michael. The Big White Lie: The CIA and the Cocaine/Crack Epidemic -- An Undercover Odyssey. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993. 472 pages.
Michael Levine's earlier book, Deep Cover, occasionally mentioned CIA double-dealing in the war against drugs. Now this theme is his central thesis. Levine is a 25-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration, whose career included undercover work in Argentina at the time of the 1980 "Cocaine Coup" in Bolivia. In this book Levine places his anti-drug war in its proper context, and concludes that it was futile. In Argentina the CIA was assisting a brutal junta, which was responsible for "disappearing" its own citizens, and in Bolivia the scheming of longtime CIA asset Klaus Barbie helped put Luis Arce Gomez into power. To top it off, the well-connected Argentinean and Bolivian fascists behind it all just happened to be some of the same people that boy scout Levine was trying to bust. Needless to say, he didn't get his merit badge, and was ordered back to headquarters.Back in the U.S. by early 1982, working out of DEA headquarters, Levine was disillusioned. DEA was harassing him with a nit-picking internal affairs investigation while drug lords were running governments. Levine settled for working a sting to entice Bolivia's queen of cocaine, Sonia Atala, into a U.S. prison. But she too was CIA-protected, and ended up in the witness protection program, waiting to return to Bolivia with all of her vast property holdings intact.
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABBAMONTE ORESTE (ERNIE BOY) ABRAMS ELLIOTT L ACOSTA CHAPARRO MARIO ARTURO ADAME ALBERTO (LT COL) AGUADO MARCOS ANTONIO ALCALUMBRE LINDA ALTAMIRANO FRANCISCO ALVAREZ ALBERTO INOCENTE ALVAREZ HECTOR AMADOR CARLOS ALBERTO ANDRATE WALTER APARECIO LUIS ARCE GOMEZ LUIS (LUCHO) ARENAS CLAUDIA AREVALO GARDOQUI JUAN ATALA SONIA ATALA WALTER (PACHI) AYALA ROLANDO BAKER ROBERT (DEA) BANK AMERICA BANK CREDIT COMMERCE INTERNATIONAL BANZER HUGO BARBIE KLAUS BARCLAY BARBARA BARCO VIRGILIO BARILLAS DANILLO BARIO SANTE ALLESANDRO BARNES NICKY JR BARON JORGE BATISTA ERIC (JUNIOR) BATISTA NILO BEDOYA MARCELLINO BELAUNDE TERRY FERNANDO BENITEZ RENE BENNETT WILLIAM J BETZNER GARY WAYNE BLAHATO GENE BLANCO GRISELDA BLANDON ADOLFO BLOCKER V HARWOOD BLUM JACK A BLUMENTHAL RICHARD BOLIVIA CIA IN BORGE TOMAS BOURNE PETER G BOWEN TERRY BOYCE LOUIS BRAND MANNY BRIGHT JACK BROWN BILL (DEA) BROWN LEE P BUCHANAN PATRICK J BURKE TERRENCE MICHAEL BUSH GEORGE H.W. BUSTILLO JUAN RAFAEL CABALLEROS JULIO CABRERA HIDALGO ALFONSO CALI CARTEL CAMACHO JOSE TITO CAMACHO JUAN CARLOS CAMARENA ENRIQUE (KIKI) CAMP DONALD WILSON CANAS RICHARD L CARLINI ROBERTO PETER CARRANZA PENICHE JORGE CASH TOM CASTILLO ARMAS CARLOS (PRES) CASTILLO BOOBY CASTILLO CELERINO III CASTILLO GENE CASTRO MANUEL CASTRO RAUL H CAVAZOS CHEMA CEREZO AREVALO VINICIO CEREZO GARCIA MILTON DAVID CERNIAK WALLY CESAR OCTAVIANO CHAMORRO ADOLFO (POPO) CHAVEZ ROBERT CHIAPPE FRANCOIS CHRETIEN CRAIG N CLARK ROBERT (DEA) CLARK WILLIAM P CLIFTON LLOYD COCA ARIEL CONNER YVONNE CORR EDWIN GHARST COSSIN DIANE CRESPO MIKE CUERVAS PACHO DAUBUISSON ROBERTO DE LA COVA RENE DE LA VEGA SALVADOR DELLE CHIAIE STEFANO DELVECCHIO JOSEPH (JOE THE CROW) DI CHIARA LORENZO (ENZO) DI PALERMO CHARLIE DI PAOLO PAUL DIACSA COMPANY DIAZ LOUIS DIAZ LYDIA DIAZ OSCAR DLOUHY DAVID B DOUGHERTY CORNELIUS J DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION DUARTE IVAN DUARTE JOSE NAPOLEON DUNCAN ALFREDO (FRED) ECHEVERRIA HERLAN EGBERT ART EL PASO INTELLIGENCE CENTER ELMORE JANICE L ESCOBAR GAVIRIA PABLO EMILIO ESPINOSA MARIO FARO DAVID FELDKAMP ROBERT FELIX GALLARDO MIGUEL ANGEL FERNANDEZ AVELINO FERNANDEZ JOSEPH F FIANO RICHARD A FINGER DAVID FINLEY RICK C FINTA STEPHEN FONTE VERONA FORZANO SAL FOSTER MICHAEL (FBI) FRANCIOSA GERALD FRIGORIFICOS PUNTARENAS COMPANY GAITAN GAITAN LEONEL GALLEGHER KEVIN GARCIA DE PAZ CARLOS RAMIRO GARCIA MEZA LUIS (GEN) GARCIA PEREZ ALAN GARCIA RAMIREZ SERGIO (ATTY GEN) GASSER ERWIN GASSER JOSE ROBERTO GAVIN JOHN A GELBARD ROBERT S GERARDO ARNIE GIRARD GEORGE GIRON PABLO GODDARD DONALD GOLDMACHER DONALD GOMEZ PADILLA MIGUEL GONZALEZ RUDY (DEA) GORMAN DAVE (DEA) GOSPADARIK RON GRAMAJO MORALES HECTOR ALEJANDRO GRASHEIM WALLY GRAY WILLY GREEN STEVE (DEA) GREGG DONALD P GUEILER LIDIA GUIROLA BEECHE FRANCISCO RODRIGO GULLICH FRANK GUTIERREZ ALFREDO (CUTUCHI) GUZMAN REYNOSO ABIMAEL HALL FAWN HALL JEFFREY HALPERIN RAY (S.RAPHAEL) HAMMONS DEBBIE HARRIS JERRY (OKLAHOMA) HASENFUS EUGENE HASTINGS ALCEE L (D-FL) HATCH ORRIN G (R-UT) HEALEY MARTA HEATH EDWARD (DEA) HERNANDEZ BOBBY (DEA) HILL CHARLIE (DEA) HILL MAURICE (DEA) HOLIFIELD LARRY HOOPEL HUBERT HOPPER DENNIS HUGHES JOHN (DEA) HUNT JIM (DEA) HURTADO CANDIA HUGO IBANEZ MARCELO IBEROAMERICAN BANK INGLESBY KEN INOUYE DANIEL K (D-HI) IRIZARRY WILLIAM (CRAZY WILLIE) JIMENEZ FELIX (DEA) JOHNSON DICK (DEA) JOHNSON STERLING JOURA ROBERT JUSTINIANO NATALIA (NATI) KAPASAR RANDY KASSON JAMES KENNEDY WILLIAM (U.S.ATTORNEY) KERRY JOHN FORBES (D-MA) KOONTZ DAVID KUNZ DAVE KUYKENDALL JAMES KWILOS DAVID LAMBERT PAUL LAND JOHN LARA BONILLA RODRIGO LAWN JOHN C LEVINE MICHAEL (DEA) LIBARDO JOSE LLAMOS CARLOS ARMANDO MACMULLEN BILLY MARINI VICTOR MARTINEZ CHARLIE MARTINEZ HUGO MARTSH JOHN MATA DEREK MATA GALVEZ ROBERTO ENRIQUE MATAMOROS BOSCO MCCALL ROBERT (DEA) MCCAVITT JOHN J MCCONNELL MITCH JR (R-KY) MCCULLOUGH KELLY MCFARLAND CALVIN G JR MEESE EDWIN MEJIA OCTAVIO (PAPO) MENDEZ DUENAS EFREN MENDEZ MILTON MICHEL JAMES H MILLER JONATHAN S MILLER SCOTT (U.S.ATTORNEY) MOLLA NEGATU MONASTERO FRED MONTERO HUMBERTO MONTOYA LUIS MOODY JIM (DEA) MORALES GEORGE MORAN CARRANZA HUGO FRANCISCO MOSS FRANK (PILOT) MULLEN FRANCIS M JR (BUD) MUNIZ JESUS NAZAR HARO MIGUEL NELO CALLAU JOSE NELSON STEPHEN (PROSECUTOR) NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE NICKELOFF BOB NIELDS JOHN W JR NIEVES ROBERT J NORIEGA MANUEL ANTONIO NORTH OLIVER L OAKLEY RICHARD OCONNOR MICHAEL OFFICE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY OPERATION CONDOR ORTEGA MENALDO FRANCISCO OVITZ MICHAEL S OWEN ROBERT W PELAEZ ROLDAN BERNARDO PEREZ ANGEL PEREZ MIGUEL ARCANGEL PETTY DONALD PIEDRA ALBERTO M JR PILLIOD CHARLES J JR PINEDA EDUARDO PIRA PALMA OMAR PIZARRO LUIS PIZARRO PATO POBLANO SILVA JUAN POINDEXTER JOHN M POOLEY MAX POWERS MICHAEL PRADO KAROL QUINON JOSE QUINTERO RAFAEL (CHI CHI) QUIROGA MARCELO RAMIREZ ARMANDO (DEA) RAZOUK WIDEN REAVES ROGER REGALADO HECTOR ANTONIO REINA RUSSELL REYES SIMON RICCO ARCESIO RICCO OMAR RICEVUTO ANTHONY RIEFF PETER RIOS MONTT EFRAIN RIVERA RICHARD RIVERA VICTOR RODRIGUEZ FELIX ISMAEL RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ REYNALDO RODRIGUEZ REMBERTO RODRIGUEZ WINSTON ROHTER LARRY ROMAN JORGE ROMERO OSCAR ARNULFO ROSENBLATT WILLIAM ROSS JIM (CUSTOMS DEPT) RUIZ EDUARDO RUSSO MIGUEL SALES JAKE SANTIAGO LUIS (COCAINE TRAFFICKER) SARMIENTO YOLANDA SAUCEDO RALPH SCUZZO ALBERT SEAL BARRY SEELEY ALBERT SEEMA PAUL SELUM JORGE SENDERO LUMINOSO SETCO AIR SHARP TOMMY (DEA) SHEDD JAMES SIMMONS JUNIUS SINGLAUB JOHN K SLATTERY RICHARD SMITH RICHARD G SOFI PEREZ SOCRATES AMAURY SOTO LYDIA SOUTHERN AIR TRANSPORT STEELE JAMES J (COL) STERN HOWARD (RADIO PERSONALITY) STIA ROBERT STRASSER STEVEN STUTMAN ROBERT SUAREZ GOMEZ ROBERTO SUAREZ ROCHA SUAZO CORDOVA ROBERTO SULLIVAN MICHAEL (PAT) TAMAYO ANA THOMPSON LARRY (U.S.EMBASSY) TODD MICHAEL (DEA) TORREZ JESSE TORREZ ROBERTO TORT PEPE UDALL RESEARCH COMPANY URQUIJO JORGE (GEORGE) VALDEZ GREGORIO VANACORA JOE VARGAS MARIO (DEALER) VASQUEZ NOEL VAUGHAN FEDERICO VELASCO HERNANDO VELEZ POSSO HECTOR VILLARREAL FRED G VON BRIESEN DELPHIN JR (TUFFY) VON RAAB WILLIAM VORTEX CORPORATION WALSH LAWRENCE EDWARD WESTRATE DAVID L WHEELER DAVID LAIRD WHITE FRANK E WORLD ANTI-COMMUNIST LEAGUE WRIGHT LONNIE YATES RANDY ZABANEH JOHNNY
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