DRUG DOCUMENTARY AIRED ON C.B.S. SAID TO BE FAKE

A prize-winning documentary about Colombian drug-runners that was broadcast
on the CBS program "60 Minutes" was a fake, a commission has concluded,
with paid actors portrayed as drug dealers and the producer's hotel room
disguised as a drug kingpin's jungle hide-out. An independent panel of
lawyers and veteran producers said the news program "The Connection" was
essentially fiction. The film had dramatic footage of a drug "mule" said to
be carrying millions of dollars worth of heroin to London for Colombia's
Cali drug cartel. The panel concluded that there was no "mule" and no
heroin, and that the "important new smuggling route" the program purported
to expose does not exist.

The documentary was made by Carlton Communications, a prominent British
television and film production company, and was sold to CBS in 1997. It
features hidden cameras, disguised-voice interviews, secretive locations
and other tools of documentary filmmakers.

The flaws in the production were first revealed in May by London's Guardian
newspaper. The Guardian report prompted Carlton to set up the independent
panel, which issued its devastating report Friday.

CBS did not undertake its own study of the program, but said that the
results of the British probe will be reported on "60 Minutes." "The
Connection" has been broadcast around the world and has won eight
journalism awards, including three in the United States. Carlton said it
would return the awards and refund the fees it received from networks that
bought the program.

The expansion of cable and satellite television channels has created a
large new market for documentaries, particularly on subjects that can
appeal to a global audience. Producers say some filmmakers use paid actors
and other false techniques to spice up their offerings.

The study panel concluded that the flaws with "The Connection" went deeper,
however. It says that the basic conclusion of the program that Colombian
drug dealers have opened a new smuggling route to Europe through London's
Heathrow Airport is false.

In "The Connection," a person said to be a drug "mule" is shown swallowing
rubber balloons said to contain heroin. The smuggler is then filmed
arriving at Heathrow. On "60 Minutes," reporter Steve Kroft said that the
"mule" had "no problem" getting past British Customs and that "another
pound of heroin was on the British streets."

In fact, the panel said, the smuggler was a hired actor who swallowed sugar
or mints, not heroin. And when he arrived in London, Customs officials
immediately sent him back to Colombia because of passport problems. The
panel said it could not determine whether the film's producer, Marc de
Beaufort, knew about all the false elements of his documentary. De Beaufort
declined interviews but said in a videotaped statement that the suggestion
he had used paid actors was "untenable."

The documentary included a segment in which the producer had to travel
blindfolded for two days by car to reach a secret rendezvous with a drug
kingpin. In fact, the interview was held in de Beaufort's hotel room. "The
panel ... is troubled by de Beaufort's willingness to misrepresent what
actually happened," the report said.

Checked-by: derek rea