CIA SUED FOR NOT REPORTING DRUG TRADE

Plaintiffs say failure caused crack epidemic

Two Oakland women filed a class-action lawsuit against the Central
Intelligence Agency yesterday, alleging that the agency's decision not
to report drug smuggling to other authorities in the 1980s caused the
crack epidemic to spread in inner-city communities.

The suit, filed by Rosemary Lyons and Olivia Woods in U.S. District
Court in Oakland, claims the CIA's policy to ignore reports of drug
smuggling from Central America to the United States destroyed many
lives, including those of their family members.

``They knew about it, and they didn't respond to the call for help
from the community,'' said Woods, 71, who said her son died of a crack
cocaine overdose. ``They looked the other way.''

The suit, and one like it filed in Los Angeles, seeks unspecified
damages, attorney William Simpich said.

Simpich said he is seeking a court order requiring the CIA to disclose
immediately to other law enforcement agencies any knowledge of illegal
activities, including drug smuggling, in the future.

The lawsuit springs from allegations, some of them published in
newspapers, that the CIA was involved in the smuggling of crack
cocaine as part of covert operations in support of Nicaraguan Contras.

Separate investigations by the CIA and the U.S. Justice Department
later cleared the agency of wrongdoing, but uncovered a CIA policy to
ignore reports of drug smuggling, Simpich said.

According to the lawsuit, CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz
admitted in March 1998 testimony before the House Intelligence
Committee that beginning in 1982, the agency and the U.S. Department
of Justice agreed that the CIA was not required to report drug
trafficking by its agents and assets.

The agency dropped the policy in 1995, Simpich said.

``We're not accusing them (the CIA) of smuggling,'' he said. ``We're
not accusing them of targeting the African American community. But
we're saying that because of this dynamic, this happened.''

CIA Spokesman Tom Crispell said the agency does not comment on pending
litigation. However, he reiterated that the CIA has been cleared by
government investigations.

Lyons said the crack epidemic had a tremendous impact on poor
communities and put an enormous burden on social services.

``We have kids who have been raised in these crime-infested
environments,'' she said. ``It's a shame. We want to protect kids from
suffering.''