DRUG CRIMES ALLEGATION LEADS TO CIA, JUSTICE SUIT

Policy To Not Report Suspicions Had Role In Crack Epidemic, Lawyer Contends

OAKLAND - Civil rights attorneys have filed lawsuits in Oakland and
Los Angeles claiming the CIA's policy to not report drug crimes to the
U.S. Department of Justice played a significant role in the crack
epidemic of the 1980s.

Oakland lawyer William Simpich filed a class action suit in federal
court, and attorneys filed a similar suit in Los Angeles Monday. Both
suits seek an acknowledgment that the 1982 agreement that said the CIA
had no duty to report drug crimes to the Justice department was
illegal; an injunction requiring the CIA to report all possible drug
crimes to the Department of Justice; and an unspecified amount of
money to "rebuild community and fund drug treatment."

"Cocaine was used as a tool in the counter-intelligence game and
because of the agreement between the CIA and the DOJ, and the special
access the CIA had to information and sources, a lot of cocaine ended
up in this country that could have been stopped," Simpich said.

Simpich said he believed the CIA policy had been a "key component" in
the crack epidemic of the 1980s.

Simpich likens his case to recent suits against tobacco companies and
gun manufacturers. He said it was the CIA's responsibility to protect
U.S. citizens from the intrusion of drugs into their communities and
that the agency needed to take responsibility for at least part of the
devastation caused by crack cocaine.

"This (case) is based on a social policy nuisance theory," Simpich
said. "What the CIA did is similar to a city police force saying,
"We're not going to try to enforce laws against prostitution in our
city.' "

The named plaintiffs in the case are two longtime East Bay residents
who say their families have been destroyed because of crack cocaine.

Olivia Woods, 71, said her son and grandson had both died of crack
cocaine overdoses.

"I have two granddaughters and grandsons who are victims now, and I
need to do something for my people who are suffering," Woods said in
reference to her involvement in the case.

Rosemary Lyons, 43, said her sister has been a crack addict for 13
years and was unable to take care of her own children.

"In this country the number of children going into foster care has
gone way up," Lyons said. "It is a terrible shame that this (crack)
has come into our communities and destroyed families."

Simpich said some details of his case were related to San Jose Mercury
News reporter Gary Webb's 1996 series "Dark Alliance." In that series,
Webb suggested that a Bay Area drug ring had sold crack in Los Angeles
in the 1980s, then funneled profits to the contras, the CIA-backed
rebel force in Nicaragua.

Webb implied that high-level CIA officials had known of the
connection. However, other newspapers disputed his findings, and
sheriff's investigators found no evidence the CIA was involved in
cocaine dealing in Los Angeles.

Simpich emphasized that his claim in no way insinuated that CIA agents
were involved in drug smuggling, but said that he and others might not
have been aware of the CIA's agreement with the Department of Justice
without the article.

The Department of Justice and the CIA could not be reached for comment
regarding the lawsuit.