SPEAKING OF HEAD SHOTS…

$63 MILLION FEDERAL LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST GEORGE BUSH, CIA, CHIP TATUM AND MASS. OFFICIALS BY FORMER GREEN BERET BILL TYREE

SUIT LINKS ALBERT CARONE TO MISSING DIARIES AND COVER-UP BY STATE OFFICIALS, U.S. GOVERNMENT

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United States District Court

District of Massachusetts

98-C.Y.-11829-JLT

William M. Tyree

Plaintiff

v.

Central Intelligence Agency

L. Scott Harshbarger

A. Paul Celluci

George Bush

Dois Gene Tatum

Defendants

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 Bill Tyree, the former U.S. Army Green Beret, who participated in CIA directed missions to smuggle cocaine into Panama in 1975 and 76, and who has been serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for the 1979 murder of his wife Elaine, has filed a $63 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court charging that the CIA, George Bush, the Massachusetts Governor and Attorney General, and long time CIA operative Dois G "Chip" Tatum have been part of a decades long conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States. The suit also alleges that the defendants, including George Bush, have directly participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice, conceal evidence and engaged in theft to keep a set of diaries maintained by Elaine Tyree, which would prove both Tyree's innocence and the CIA conspiracy, from falling into Tyree's possession. This is in spite of previous court findings that initial searches of Tyree's residence by Massachusetts authorities, after the murder, were illegal and that removal of the diaries constituted theft of personal property. The suit further alleges that the defendants have used the monies generated from those activities to fund a host of illegal operations which have violated the Constitution. The initial filing in the case, more than one hundred pages long and supported by "five inches" of supporting documents, touches issues ranging from Iran Contra drug trafficking, to Mena Arkansas, to political fundraising, to FEMA, to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Tyree, who served first with the 7^th and later the 10^th Special Forces at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, participated in CIA missions using Special Forces troops to infiltrate Colombia to plant navigational aids for cocaine flights into Panama in 1975 and 1976. Tyree, and others who have submitted affidavits, watched the planes being unloaded by the likes of Manuel Noriega, CIA officer Ed Wilson and Israeli Mossad Agent Mike Harrari.

In 1977 and 1978 Tyree engaged in illegal domestic surveillance and blackmail operations from Fort Devens, which were designed to conceal the earlier missions. He became disenchanted with the work and asked for a transfer. At the same time, his wife Elaine, also in the Army, became an informant for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and began recording details of illegal operations in a set of diaries. She was murdered with a hunting knife in their apartment a short time later and her diaries disappeared.

 Tyree has steadfastly maintained his innocence and, over the years, an increasing body of evidence has surfaced to support his claims.

At first blush such a broad sweep for a civil action seems unjustified and even ill conceived. However a close reading of the complaint reveals a distinct connection between the disparate elements in the form of Albert Vincent Carone and documents and witness statements, which have recently surfaced, showing that Carone, a CIA operative for more than thirty years prior to his 1990 death, has participated in all of the above events. The complaint also specifically states that Carone was the man who illegally took possession of Elaine Tyree's diaries shortly after her murder. The suit further alleges that Carone retrieved the diaries at the "express direction" of George Bush who served as CIA Director in 1976 when the CIA drug flights, known as the "Watchtower" missions took place. The initial filing for the suit indicates a direct evidentiary connection leading to Bush as part of the conspiracy.

Far from being general in nature, the suit includes copious supporting material, names more than twenty-five banks and lists more than ten bank account numbers connected to the CIA's movement of monies generated from drug trafficking. The suit also indicates that, via witness testimony, some already included in the form of affidavits, there are witnesses capable of tying Bush to Carone and Carone to the diaries. In addition, the suit seeks 722 specific sets of records. According to Tyree's attorney, Ray Kohlman of Attleboro, Massachusetts, "The first round of subpoenas for records have already landed in Washington and elsewhere with a resounding thud."

Subpoenas for records and statements already made by defendant Tatum have been sent through the U.S. Marshall's service to Tatum, who is considered a "friendly defendant" in the case. Tatum's whereabouts are currently unknown but he has, for several years, published materials and documents denouncing the CIA and George Bush for their direct roles in smuggling drugs into the country and for engaging in other illegal activities. According to Kohlman, Tatum's inclusion as a defendant is intended to, "compel testimony which we believe Tatum wants to give but which requires that Tatum have the protection afforded by a civil subpoena to do so."

The Massachusetts Connections

In civil and criminal trails in 1985 and 1987 against a former Ayer police officer and a Massachusetts State Trooper, the courts found that warrantless searches of the Tyree residence, conducted immediately after the murder, were illegal and that property taken in those searches, including the diaries and photographs showing Tyree in uniform, was illegally seized. The photographs showed Tyree with decorations and ratings the Army subsequently denied he had ever been awarded. The courts issued orders to police officials in the town of Ayer and Middlesex County to return the property and one of the officers involved admitted liability and paid a judgement. The second officer paid a judgement on appeal. Continuing attempts were made by Tyree to recover the property, which the District Attorney's office admitted had been removed, without success. (See story in the May issue)

Inclusion of the Massachusetts Governor, Paul Celluci and the Attorney General, Scott Harshbarger as defendants in the suit is based upon more than a pro forma issue of their roles as law enforcement officers in the state. Celluci, the Republican appointed to serve out the balance of former Governor William Weld's term, has specifically ignored written appeals from Tyree for commutation of sentence and enforcement of his civil rights. His law partner in 1980, William Kittridge, defended Special Forces trooper Erik Aarhus, who was also convicted in the murder, and allegedly wielded the knife, in a conspiracy with Tyree to collect insurance money. A sizeable body of material, including affidavits, forensic evidence, and witness testimony exists to show that neither Tyree nor Aarhus were present when the murder was committed and that another former Green Beret, William Peters, was the actual killer  (See story in the May issue). The initial case against Tyree was initially dismissed by Judge James Killiam and subsequently re-filed, as a result of government pressure, with the Massachusetts State Judicial Supreme Court. In a June, 1998 documentary on A&E entitled, Murder at Fort Devens, Judge Killiam again repeated his beliefs, both that Tyree was innocent and that Peters was the real killer.

Harshbarger, the current Attorney General served as Middlesex County DA, in which jurisdiction Tyree was originally prosecuted, from 1984 to 1990. In addition, while District Attorney in 1987 he defended Peters, in a clear conflict of interest, when Tyree's mother placed charges against him. As the District Attorney and later as Attorney General, Harshbarger had direct responsibility to comply with the court orders directing the return of the diaries and other personal property in the 1985 and 1987 civil cases. As far back as 1980, while the Tyree case was being prosecuted by then Middlesex DA John Droney, Harshbarger had been hired as a special counsel by the Selectmen of Ayer, to investigate widespread corruption in the Ayer Police Department on charges which included theft. As a result of Harshbarger's investigations, several Ayer police were fired and faced criminal proceedings. It was these same Ayer police who searched Tyree's residence with the assistance of State Troopers.

Carone - Putting The Pieces Together

It was not until late 1996, in a series of events which involved this writer, that Bill Tyree learned that it had been Albert Carone who had received the diaries from Massachusetts and who had held them in his personal possession until November, 1989, shortly before his own death.

Albert Vincent Carone, a retired NYPD Detective First Grade, had served his entire life also as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves assigned to Military Intelligence and the Counter Intelligence Corps. He retired from NYPD in 1980 and moved to New Mexico where he began work on Contra support operations. The Army served as the cover for his work directed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Carone's connections both to organized crime and the CIA are extremely well documented and are a significant part of a large affidavit submitted by this writer in the suit. Among the records available are a personal phone book in which are listed the home addresses and phone numbers of both William Casey and Gambino family crime boss Pauly Castellano. There are also a host of other records tying Carone to a multitude of CIA operations including laundering of Contra-era cocaine profits and such entities as the Nugan Hand Bank. Carone family members have produced a series of affidavits and records specifically referencing George Bush, Oliver North, Richard Secord, Elliot Abrams, Bill Casey and many other CIA figures. Bill Casey attended the christening of Carone's grandson in the 1970s and Santos Trafficante and other Mafia figures have been known to the family for decades as "uncle". (A complete report of my investigation of Albert Carone is available through From The Wilderness - See back page)

In 1990, after he had expressed reservations at having participated in CIA operations resulting in the 1985 death of DEA agent "Kiki" Camarena, Carone died as a result of "chemical toxicity of unknown etiology." Every conceivable record concerning Carone, including active bank accounts, life insurance policies, military records, NYPD files and even his driver's license disappeared. His daughter, Dee Carone Ferdinand, and her family were left destitute.

Although she did not know it, Dee had known of Bill Tyree for a long time, only by a different name - Sandy. For many years Al Carone had repeatedly referred to a great wrong done to Sandy in conversations with both Dee and her husband, Tommy. "Sandy was, " said Dee, "almost an obsession with Dad."

Carone had participated not only in the Watchtower missions but also in several other covert operations in which Tyree had also served under CIA direction. They knew each other well. Carone's role was that of "paymaster" and bagman".

The connections came slowly.

In 1991, Tyree made contact with retired Army CID investigator William McCoy, who began investigating events connected with Tyree's case. McCoy was a well-respected Washington area private investigator who had assisted in investigations with the Cristic Institute in the 1980s. Though Tyree knew Carone from the Watchtower missions and other operations, his name was not initially given to McCoy.

It was not until approximately 1994 that the Ferdinands and Tyree learned of each other's existence and it was not until September of 1996 that Tyree and Dee Ferdinand first made personal contact. It was a short time after that that Dee Ferdinand realized that Tyree was the "Sandy" referred to by her father and it was not until 1997 that it became clear that Albert Carone had held Elaine Tyree's diaries in his possession for many years.

 In affidavits filed in the lawsuit, the Ferdinands reveal that not only had they seen the diaries but that both had actually held them and could describe contents thereof which had never been published or otherwise described. Sometime in late 1989, knowing he was dying, Carone delivered the diaries to unnamed CIA officials. [NOTE: The practice of law enforcement and military investigators knowingly holding key items of evidence in their personal possession is well known to this writer as a means of "personal insurance" Such practice was well documented in a police spy scandal in Los Angeles in the 1980s.] Carone's relations with George Bush are well documented in various investigations, including my own, and, as well, through statements made by Carone to both Tyree and his own family. It is those statements, and other records which will be produced at trial, which provide the foundation showing that George Bush, as Director of CIA during the Watchtower missions, and as an active CIA executive in the years after, directly ordered Carone to Massachusetts in the wake of Elaine Tyree's murder, to retrieve the diaries.

This writer was first put in touch with Dee Ferdinand in late 1993 by former CIA case officer David MacMichael. After initial phone conversations I traveled to New Mexico and produced an extensive report on Albert Carone, which I published and copyrighted in March. I sent a copy to retired CID investigator McCoy, who had spoken briefly to Dee previously, as well as to several other former Army and CIA employees. McCoy had been working with Tyree at that time for several years but had not delved deeply into Carone's case. It was not until late 1994 that McCoy, after reading my investigation, began talking regularly to Ferdinand and it was not until late 1996 that McCoy mentioned Ferdinand's maiden name, Carone, to Tyree. Tyree went through the roof. Bill McCoy passed away suddenly in 1997 and Tyree and Ferdinand began communicating directly. It was through those communications that Dee Ferdinand realized that Bill Tyree was the "Sandy" so often referred to her by her father and that her father had actually held the diaries instead of destroying them.

Preliminary work on the suit was commenced shortly thereafter.

Dee Ferdinand had previously heard of Tyree through both Bill McCoy and me. None of us voiced any connection between the two cases although it is possible that McCoy suspected one. I had received a document describing Tyree's case, known as the Cutolo affidavit, in 1992 and this remained the sole piece of material I had on Tyree until I began receiving additional materials from McCoy in 1994. In none of those documents was the name "Sandy" ever mentioned. My first direct contact with Tyree came in 1996.

Additional revelations, in affidavits filed by Dee Ferdinand and her husband, as well as by other Carone family members, indicate that Albert Carone had also told his family that he had delivered cash payoffs to Jack Ruby in Dallas on Nov. 21, 1963 and that he had been on a rooftop at Dallas' Love Field with a rifle as part of a CIA attempt to kill John Kennedy before the fateful motorcade got underway. A source close to the case has indicated that additional corroborative evidence as to the relationship between Carone and Ruby may be forthcoming.

The suit is seeking $21 million in extrinsic damages - $1 million for each year of incarceration, $42 million in exemplary damages, $21 for the value of the diaries and the photographs, an injunction against the CIA from engaging in further illegal. activities and such legal remedies as are appropriate under the Constitution. That last part would, of course, include a new trial and thus, Tyree's freedom.

Initial hearings in the case are scheduled to begin on October 30.

CORRECTIONS

In the May issue, From The Wilderness reported that Paul Celluci, Governor of Massachusetts was a Democrat. Celluci is, in fact, a lifelong Republican.

In that issue I also gave a spelling of Bill Tyree's attorney Ray Kohlman as Coleman. I had spoken with Ray several times and even mailed him letters after being given an incorrect spelling and he never corrected me. It was not until I received correspondence on his letterhead that I realized the mistake. There's only one thing I can say -  Oops. Sorry.

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APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS RICKY ROSS SENTENCE BUT DENIES NEW TRIAL SAYING CIA CONNECTION IRRELEVANT

According to the Associated Press, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, Sept. 9^th, found that there was no basis to grant Freeway Ricky Ross a new trial based upon outrageous conduct by the government. Ross is the one time LA area drug kingpin whose exploits were chronicled in the San Jose Mercury News stories of 1996, which confirmed direct links between Ross' suppliers, Danillo Blandon and Norwin Meneses, the Contras and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The court ruled that alleged links between Contra supporters and drug dealer Oscar Danillo Blandon and the CIA were "unproven". Ignoring claims by Ross' attorneys that he was entrapped, and a prior trial record which suggested that Blandon had been allowed to remain in the U.S. for the express purpose of setting Ross up, the court found that there was overwhelming evidence of Ross' guilt "even if Blandon's credibility had been demolished."

The court then overturned Ross' life sentence by ruling that arrests in Texas and Ohio were part of a single conspiracy and not two separate "strikes" under federal guidelines. It then ordered the District Court to re-sentence him. A probation report recommends a 22-year sentence and a new sentencing date has not been set.

 In deciding Ross' case the Court upheld the convictions and sentences of Ross' codefendants Curtis James and Leroy Brown.

[If we sent the Appeals Court a copy of Gary Webb's book, do you think they'd read it? - Ed]

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OSAMA BIN LADEN - A CIA CREATION AND ITS  "BLOWBACK"

"TERRORIST" IS CONNECTED TO CIA, DRUGS AND WE MAY HAVE DELIBERATELY PROVOKED HIM TO ATTACK

WE MAY NOT WANT TO CATCH HIM EITHER

On August 20 the United States launched a series of cruise missile attacks against alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan, both of which were said to be under the control of a rabid Islamic fundamentalist leader and arch terrorist named Osama bin-Laden. I did some checking on bin-Laden and what I found out leads me to suspect that the CIA and the U.S. government would rather have this evil terrorist hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan than answering questions which might embarrass them.

Shortly after the Russians invaded Afghanistan, the young and wealthy Saudi Arabian named bin-Laden rushed to Afghani mountains to fight a Muslim holy war against Godless Communism. Having inherited more than thirty million dollars from his father's construction business he was in a position to lend immediate help to the struggling Afghani freedom fighters. He formed quick alliances among the half dozen or so major factions of the Mujahedeen led by Afghani Sheik Hekmatyar.

US records indicate that we spent nearly $3 billion dollars over the next eight years to train and equip the Afghan rebels. We even supplied them with Stinger missiles, which caused great concern in later years as we began to fear they would be turned against us. The U.S. Congress appropriated ransom money to buy them back in the early 90s. Few were recovered. In addition the CIA, under Bill Casey, sponsored an explosion in the heroin trade to finance the war. This was nothing new.

In 1979, when the Soviet invasion occurred, virtually none of the heroin entering the US came from the so-called Golden Crescent in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the time it was coming from Mexico and Southeast Asia. By 1982 the region was producing exportable opium base equivalent to 20-30 tons of heroin a year. Of that, at least 4.5 tons reached the U.S. By 1988 those numbers had increased to 70 to 80 tons of heroin of which 15 to 20 tons reached the US.

According to Alfred McCoy, in his outstanding book The Politics of Heroin (Lawrence Hill Books, 1972, 1991), Hekmatyar controlled no less than six heroin refineries in the Khyber District of Pakistan alone. At his side was Osama bin-Laden.

Around the time that Osama bin-Laden moved to Afghanistan in 1980 he was also curiously able to found a series of investment companies under the umbrella SICO which he headquartered in Geneva. Sources formerly in the intelligence community have confirmed to me that, as bin-Laden established branches in the Cayman islands and the Bahamas, he employed law firms and consultants connected to Langley, Virginia and the CIA.

Throughout the Afghan war bin-Laden grew in reputation as a fearless leader and devout Muslim. His wealth also increased rapidly. I wonder why?  By the end of the war and the Soviet withdrawal he was known throughout Africa and the Middle East as a radical fundamentalist leader who had turned his sights against the U.S. But this was not without creating enemies both in Afghanistan and his home country of Saudi Arabia, which drew ever more securely into the U.S. sphere - especially during and after the Gulf War.

In the early 1990s bin-Laden took up sanctuary in the Sudan and was afforded a kind of safe haven. He threw himself into massive construction projects including road building. The Sudanese government has admitted that it had an agreement with the U.S. to monitor bin-Laden and to curtail his terrorist activities. In exchange for this Sudan received unspecified rewards. It is, therefore, mystifying as to why, with bin-Laden under scrutiny in the reasonably accessible and penetrable Sudan, the U.S. government forced the Sudanese government to expel him in 1995. This drove him back into the arms of the increasingly hostile Taliban militia in Afghanistan. There, he re-established relations with Afghani drug lords in the towns of Jhost and Jalalabad.

When the U.S. cruise missiles struck the El-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, a host of conflicting stories appeared as to who owned the plant and when it was built. The British turned up a man named Tom Carnaffin who claimed to have helped build the plant and manage it from 1992 through 1996. Other records and sources indicated, however, that the plant was not built until 1996. Carnaffin claimed that he was intimately familiar with the plant and that it could not have produced nerve agents as the U.S. claimed. Later the U.S. backed down and said that it didn’t have proof that bin-Laden owned the plant. In the meantime about four other people were named who reportedly did. Some of them didn’t know each other.

What really got my attention was the fact that the French Internet publication, Indigo, reported that bin-Laden had been a London guest of British Intelligence as recently as 1996 and his treasurer, last year, defected to the Saudis as different factions shifted alliances for new campaigns in the Middle East. If the guy travels to London and has businesses in the Caymans and Geneva, how difficult can he be to find? Why did the British stand so resolutely behind the American attacks?

Murky? You bet. Fishy? Absolutely. It may be entirely possible that the plant in the Sudan was storing databases for Iraqi chem and biowar agents. It may well be that the plant even had silent investors connected to Sadam Hussein and thence, back here in the States.

Maybe when I have a couple of thousand subscribers and a staff I'll be able to spend the time digging into stories like this one. But one thing's for sure, Osama bin-Laden is in a place where CIA can't reach him right now and I bet they want it that way. Like so many other terrorists, from the World Trade Center, to Pan Am 103, he is one of their own creations.

As my good friend, Producer Marc Levin, points out, the CIA has a term for it when one of their operations goes awry and turns ugly, "It's called 'Blowback'." Levin produced an outstanding 1997 six hour documentary on CIA for PBS entitled, "CIA - America's Secret Warriors " If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it as not only basic reference but great entertainment.

[Special thanks to Ralph McGehee's CIA BASE Program, Alfred McCoy's, The Politics of Heroin and various unnamed sources who prefer it that-a-way.]

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JOHN MATTES RESPONDS

DoJ LIED

SORT OF…

In the last issue I published my response to what I considered to be an offensive and dishonest report by Michael Bromwich, Inspector General for the Department of Justice, into the allegations arising from Gary Webb's stories in The San Jose Mercury News. In a letter to John Mattes, who had discovered CIA involvement in cocaine trafficking while a Federal Public Defender (read DoJ employee) and who later served on the Kerry Subcommittee I outlined, categorically, how Mattes had discovered, and then disclosed evidence of CIA/NSC connections to drugs which, in some cases, led directly to the staff of George Bush.

Just after I printed the last edition of From The Wilderness I received John's reply. It seems tepid. But in a subsequent letter to me John wrote, "I have not yet had an opportunity to review the IG's report, but am angry that DoJ has again lied to the American people regarding the Contras and cocaine."

John confirmed that he is currently representing Wally Grasheim, a CIA agent covered in Celerino Castillo's written statement for the House Intelligence Committee, and mentioned in Oliver North's diaries, in an unspecified legal action. Grasheim, according to several sources, was listed in DEA NADDIS records as a trafficker during the Contra years.

I also received a response from the DoJ Inspector General to my letter of complaint addressed to Janet Reno. In that letter Mike Bromwich wrote to me, "…We have reviewed your letter carefully. "We made the judgements in our report based upon the information and documents available to us. We understand that you, as well as other, may be dissatisfied with our conclusions. However, we attempted to conduct our investigations thoroughly and fairly, and we stand by our conclusions.

"In any event, thank you for your cooperation and the information you provided to us."

                                                            Very truly yours,

                                                            Michael R. Bromwich

                                                            Inspector General

[They may be incompetent, dishonest and irresponsible, but they sure are polite.]

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CELERINO CASTILLO RESPONDS TO DoJ

Insofar as wrongdoing is concerned, the DoJ was able to find nothing it would admit was wrong in its collusion with CIA during the Contra years. As usual, buried within the report, was further confirmation of CIA criminality and of Justice's co-conspiratorial complicity. But there were some places DoJ just wouldn't look.

The Department of Justice's Inspector General neatly avoided any of the utterly damning issues raised by its former employee, DEA Agent Celerino Castillo. In spite of hundreds of pages DoJ had in their own files, from his years as a senior field agent, the fact that he refused to be interviewed, except in the presence of Maxine Waters somehow gave the Inspector General a case of documentary amnesia.

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Cele responds here in his own words.

(Excerpted)

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CELERINO "CELE" CASTILLO III, (FORMER DEA SPECIAL AGENT). A RESPONSE TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL ON THE FINDINGS OF THEIR INVESTIGATION INTO CIA/CONTRAS DRUG TRAFFICKING

The final report of the Department of Justice/Office of Inspector General on CIA/Contra drug trafficking is the reason that we, the American people, will continue to lose our loved ones to the so-called, "war on drugs."  We are still paying a tremendous price for addictions that have been caused by our shadow government back in the 1980s.  The US government agencies involved should be the first targets of an effective drug strategy. They continue to deceive the American people by utilizing every loophole available.

First and foremost, I find it very disturbing, that the DoJ has again failed to conduct a proper investigation into CIA/Contra drug trafficking.  These are the facts as I know them:

On May 05, 1998, I responded with a written statement to The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (www.copvcia.com).  The statement reveals dates, times, names and case files from my journals.  My statement further cites several new investigative leads on the CIA/Contra issue.  However, the primary witnesses that I furnished have never been interviewed.

I will initiate my first response to the introduction of the DOJ/OIG report, in which they state, "…the government (DOJ) directed all DOJ components to produce documents from their files relating to the specific individuals mentioned in the Mercury News and allegations of drug trafficking by the Contras."  In their report (number IX): Carlos Cabezas, it states Cabezas was only involved in the "Frogman Case" in San Francisco between 1981 and 1982.  Once more, the FBI and DEA failed to introduce their files on Carlos Cabezas, specifically the April 1991 DEA case file number R3-91-0036;Rodriguez, Milagro. In this file, (1991) Carlos Cabezas' wife, along with several Colombian females, sold me, in an undercover capacity, 5 kilos of cocaine in San Francisco.  After her arrest, she decided to cooperate and made several recorded undercover telephone calls (exhibits) to the source of the 5 kilos of cocaine.  The source was a well-known documented Colombian trafficker, none other than, Alvaro Carvajal-Minota.  Soon after her arrest (April 15, 1991), Carlos Cabezas came into the DEA San Francisco Office and attempted to cut a deal with the DEA case agent, Paul Rosario and myself.  Carlos Cabezas stated that he and another Nicaraguan, Julio Zavala (number VIII in the DOJ/OIG report) were paid informants for the San Francisco FBI office.  He stated that they were the main undercover informants for a year-long FBI drug investigation involving Nicaraguans. He emphasized that the investigation involved a money laundering operation and long term wiretap intelligence.  To make his point, Cabezas gave me his FBI undercover business card.  It was identified as "The California Company" located at 3519 Mission St. San Francisco, Ca  94110 "Real Estate & Investments Carlos A. Cabezas, Sales Associate, pager: 371-7108 Fax: 415 647-0918; Res: 415-991-3104: Bus: 415-647-8014."  I questioned Cabezas as to why the FBI would invite their informants to conduct the illegal sale of narcotics (5 kilos of cocaine).  Cabezas stated that the FBI had given them permission to conduct illegal activities.  Immediately, a DEA 6 (Report of Investigation) was initiated by SA Paul Rosario and myself on the allegations and forwarded to DEA HQS OPR (Office of Professional Responsibility). SA Rosario and myself proceeded to contact the San Francisco FBI where they confirmed that Cabezas and Zalvala were in fact FBI informants. They further stated that the DEA arrest on Mrs. Cabezas would jeopardize their long-range investigation.  Soon after, I departed the DEA and was later advised by DEA that Mrs. Cabezas had been released because of Mr. Cabezas connection with the Contras and CIA.  The above information is in my journals and my biweeklies (DEA 352) for that month.

To no one’s surprise, it was later revealed that the FBI case file on the Nicaraguans was on none other then Rafael Cornejo, whose case is in the US Northern District Court of California (Dist. Court 92-0403-TEH).  This is the same case that initiated "The Dark Alliance" story by Gary Webb.

I would like to now respond to DOJ/OIG report on section number X. Celerino Castillo, which said  (A).  ..." The OIG found it difficult to evaluate Castillo's allegations because of their general nature". (B)..."Castillo's refusal to be interviewed by the OIG except under unacceptable conditions."

On their second quotation (B), on my refusal to be interviewed, I am stating that the OIG denied me the right to record the interview.  I felt that, for reasons that we now know, recording would have been my only proof of what statements I made or did not make. At one time, I even had requested to have US Congresswomen, Maxine Waters present during the interview. Again, they denied me that right, stating that she had her own investigation into the same allegations.

On their first quotation that ...Castillo's allegations were of a general nature...   FACTS: The following witnesses were not interviewed on my allegations, even after the DOJ/OIG had been furnished with the names. (See registered letter, June 20, 1997, from me to Tamara J. Kessler, Special Investigative Counsel).

I.  Ramiro Guerra (DEA Active informant STG-81-0013) Was involved in reporting several CIA/CONTRA drug trafficking operations for the DEA in Guatemala and at El Salvador Ilopango airport.(case files are available)

II. Mario Rodolfo Martinez-Murga (former DEA and CIA Informant.) DEA informant # STG-86-0006 Murga was the individual who conducted the flight plans for the Contra pilots at Ilopango airport. He reported on several documented CIA/CONTRA drug traffickers. Case  files #s are available. The McAllen, Tx. Monitor Newspaper has audio recordings on the CIA/Drug trafficking from Murga's interview in 1994.  Murga is still employed at the Ilopango airport.

III. US Lt. Col. Alberto Adame (retired)

Col. Adame worked under El Salvador USMilgroup Commander, Col. James Steel. Adame is ready to testify before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

IV.  Janis Elmore (Political Officer in El Salvador 1986-1990).  I reported all the El Salvador CIA/CONTRA intelligence to her. Elmore would send all DEA intelligence to her superiors in the CIA and signed off on all DEA cables to Washington.

V.  Jack McCavett (CIA Chief of Station in El Salvador and Guatemala during that time period.)  He was questioned by me, in El Salvador, as to why one of his agents by the name George Witter, was attempting to obtain a US visa for a known Nicaraguan drug trafficker, Carlos Alberto Amador (mentioned in several DEA files). El Salvador US Consular General, Robert J. Chavez can confirm said allegations.

VI.   Walter L Grasheim, (US citizen) alleged contract agent (Dept. of the Army) in El Salvador during the 1980's.  Worked under Lt. Col. Oliver North, Felix Rodriguez and other CIA operatives. Grasheim is mentioned in several FBI (see OIC letters dated January 23, 1991 from Lawrence E. Walsh to William M. Baker, Assistant Director of the FBI), DEA (see letter of OIC Craig A. Gillen to Ron Caffrey, Deputy Assistant Administrator DEA) and US Custom files under SA Richard Rivera. In 1998 (McAllen, Tx.) Grasheim showed a Salvadoran Military training  video of US CIA agents (names are available) out on patrol in El Salvador with the Salvadoran military. Grasheim also admitted he sold night vision equipment to the Contras. (see interview by Iran-Contra FBI agent Mike Foster). According to Grasheim, he is now attempting to sue the US Government and is allegedly represented by John Mattes.

VII.  Lupita Vega, the only Salvadoran with Top Secret Clearance under US Col. James Steel. - She was the logistics individual who knew where the Ilopango contra airplanes would refuel in Mexico.

Quote from the DOJ/OIG ..."The DEA did not have hard evidence to substantiate the charges about drug trafficking at Ilopango"

The DEA has the above evidence that will not only show that the CIA had knowledge, but participated with Contra pilots in drug trafficking.  Next is one of many drug traffickers working for the CIA at Ilopango.(A).Francisco Rodrigo Guirola-Beeche, DEA NADDIS #s 1585334 and 1744448.  Mr. Guirola is documented in several DEA case files. In 1986, I started documenting Mr. Guirola at Ilopango as a CIA/Contra drug trafficker, arm smuggler and as being involved in money laundering. This is per my journals and an Ilopango informant: June 18, 1986, at approximately 7:30 a.m., Guirola departed Ilopango to the Bahamas to air drop US monies. His passenger was identified as Carlos Castaneda Ferman (Salvadoran). On his return trip (June 21, 1986), Guirrola arrived with his passengers Alejandro de Urbizu and Patricia Bernal.  In 1988, De Urbizu was arrested in the US in a cocaine conspiracy case. Urbizu was mentioned in 8 DEA files. However, a year earlier, February 6, 1985, Mr. Guirola and three Cuban Americans were arrested in a private plane by US Customs at Kleberg County Airport in Kingville, Texas with $5.9 million. The monies had been picked up in California. Federal agents charged that the cash was drug money destined for El Salvador.  A month earlier US Customs had been tracking Mr. Guirola, with the same plane, departing Orange County California for Florida.  In mid-flight, he diverted his plane to Panama, there he landed with $1.2 million in cash. The Los Angeles Times, reported that Guirola had accompanied, head of the death squads in El Salvador, Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, to a "very sensitive" meeting with former CIA deputy director Vernon Walters in May 1984.

On February 14, 1989, I wrote a memo (have copy) to the Contra File on Intelligence Gathering on narcotics trafficking at Ilopango Military base in El Salvador. In this memo I documented some Contra pilots involved in drug trafficking. Quote: “...we did not find proof that it was because the CIA was involved with or knew about drug trafficking at the airport (Ilopango).” The DoJ/OIG is alleging that no pressure was placed on DEA to release the drug information.

In Conclusion, the DoJ/OIG did not have to interview me to obtain the above information. After my denial of the interview, I sent Tamara J. Kessler, Special Investigative Counsel, Office of the Inspector General, a registered letter with all of the above information so that it could assist them in their investigation. The reason  they did not investigate is that they have their own major problems with their own agents. These agents are involved in atrocities (I have pictures and case file numbers as proof), corruption and massive cover-ups in Central America. To prove my allegations all the DEA has to do is release all the Central America 1980s DEA informant files, case files and general files, especially the ones from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. If the DEA will not release these files it is because it is in their best interests not to do so.

However the NADDIS (DEA data base) is available to the proper authorities. The CIA is not the only agency that hides behind “National Security” or the Privacy Act. Maybe the DEA is more powerful than the DoJ. Here is one reason. On October 15, 1986 Assistant Attorney General Mark Richard testified before the Kerry Committee, “...that he had attended a meeting with 20 to 25 officials and that the DEA did not want to provide any information that the Committee had requested on Contra involvement in drug trafficking.” Why? It is well established that the DEA has CIA moles in its organization, from former administrators to Cuban exiles, who pose as DEA agents.

Celerino Castillo III

---------------

EXCLSUSIVELY AVAILABLE FROM

From The Wilderness!

The Tyree Papers

NOT EVEN A&E has all of this material.  163 pages including the Cutolo affidavit, supporting affidavits from eyewitnesses in the military, admissions from the Middlesex DA of blackmail by Special Forces and CIA and even CIA and Army documents which admit the existence of the Watchtower missions.

This package, including summary material and explanations written by Mike Ruppert, is in the hands of Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Bill Tyree's attorney has approved it for public release through From The Wilderness.

$19.95 - plus $1.50 s&h to:

 Mike Ruppert - P.O. Box 6061-350, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413

MIKE RUPPERT TESTIFIES BEFORE L.A. COUNTY COMMISSION ON NARCOTICS AND DANGEROUS DRUGS

On Wednesday, September 16, 1998 I gave open testimony before the Loa Angeles County Commission on Narcotics and Dangerous drugs. It was the first time in twenty years of attempting to expose CIA's role in drug dealing that I have been allowed to address a government body.

The Commission, which acts as an advisory body to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors helps the County set policy on drug issues. My testimony was arranged by Commissioner Fernando Fernando, who had previously attended one of my lectures.

Press attendance at the hearing was good and included representatives from FOX, KFWB news radio, KTLA, The L.A. Daily News, The L.A. WEEKLY, The L.A. NEW TIMES and City News Service. However, no stories appeared anywhere except on the wire.

After a fifteen minute opening statement in which I used CIA's own words, and those of the Justice Department, to convince the panel that CIA had been involved in drug trafficking, I made recommendations that: the Commission endorse a move to recall the current CIA Director to Los Angeles, the Commission recommend that the County Board of Supervisors endorse that effort, and that the Commission act as an observer at tribunals sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies to be held at Loyola Law School next fall.  I then responded to questions for approximately another hour and a half.

None of the Commissioners expressed disbelief in my allegations and many questions focused on deeper issues such as the role of drugs in the global economy and treatment issue. The Commission agreed to undertake a review of the material I submitted and make a report to the County.

I submitted a package of materials to the Commission which included an affidavit I have prepared for the Tyree lawsuit, the written statement of Celerino Castillo for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the video taped oral history of my life recorded at UCLA last year.

I also took twelve copies of Gary Webb's Dark Alliance and offered to sell them at cost. Sadly, there were no takers.

I'm glad I did it. It went well. I now know that, in a very short period of time, it is possible to prove that CIA has dealt drugs. I am still saddened though, that government bodies use their very existence as a means to avoid individual responsibilities as citizens, which is the common ground on which we all walk.

A lot was learned in this appearance and I will keep you posted if anything comes of it.

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