PROBE UNCOVERS NO EVIDENCE CIA CONSPIRED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKERS

An investigation into the CIA's possible dealings with Central
American drug smugglers during the 1980s has found no evidence that
the CIA conspired with drug traffickers who were helping Nicaraguan
Contra rebels, sources say.

But a classified report of the probe, conducted by the agency's
Inspector General's Office, also concluded that some CIA personnel
were aware of allegations of drug trafficking by some Contra
supporters and failed to adequately check them out.

``In some of these cases the allegations were handled appropriately''
while in others they were not, said an official familiar with the report.

According to the New York Times, the report found that the CIA's
decision to keep paid agents suspected of drug trafficking, or to
continue dealing with them in some less-formal relationship, was made
by top officials at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., in the
midst of the war waged by the CIA-backed Contras against Nicaragua's
leftist Sandinista government.

But the report also says that ``the central shortcomings in the
handling of such allegations have been addressed and corrected in the
years since the Contra program ended,'' the official said.

The investigation was the second part of a general inquiry by the
Inspector General's Office, ordered in response to a series published
in the Mercury News nearly two years ago about connections between
drug trafficking by CIA-sponsored Contra rebels and the crack cocaine
explosion in the United States.

Two dealers

The series described the activities of two Nicaraguan drug dealers,
both Contra sympathizers, who were said to have sold cocaine in the
United States and used the millions of dollars in proceeds to buy
weapons for the Contras. The series credited one of them, Danilo
Blandon, with selling enough cocaine to a South-Central Los Angeles
crack dealer to spark a U.S. crack epidemic. The series also implied
that the drug dealers received government protection, possibly from
the CIA.

Last year, the Mercury News reported shortcomings in the series, and
the series' author has since left the newspaper.

The report contains so much classified information about the agency's
sources and methods, according to a CIA spokesman, that the agency is
uncertain whether it can publish an unclassified version. There has
been speculation that it contains damaging information about the CIA's
willingness to ignore the illegal activities of some Nicaraguan Contras.

The possibility that the report won't be made public drew a swift and
angry response from Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, who represents
the Watts area of Los Angeles. She said she is disgusted with the turn
of events.

``My constituents are waiting,'' the congresswoman said. ``I am
disappointed that the inspector general has come up with something
that can't be released.''

The completed report has been given to the Senate and House committees
on intelligence. Millender-McDonald said she expects the House
intelligence committee to hold hearings on the matter.

The classified report, running to about 500 pages with various
appendixes, found ``no information to indicate that the CIA or its
employees conspired with or assisted Contra-related organizations or
individuals in drug trafficking,'' said a federal official familiar
with the report.

`No' CIA involvement

The inspector general's mission was to find out whether the CIA or its
people were involved in supporting drug trafficking. ``The answer to
that is clearly no,'' the official said.

Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive, a
non-profit organization specializing in obtaining the declassification
of foreign policy documents, also challenged the CIA's explanation of
why the report could not be released.

``The truth is,'' Kornbluh said, ``even if there is a modicum of
validity to the sources and methods argument, and in this case I don't
think there is, national security is far better served by the release
of the information than the withholding of it.''

A report released earlier this year by the CIA's inspector general
found no link between the drug dealers and the CIA and said the CIA
did not intervene to protect them. It also found no information to
indicate that the drug trafficking was motivated by a commitment to
support the Contra cause.

The second phase of the investigation looked at any knowledge the CIA
had of other alleged drug trafficking by the Contras or people
associated with the program.

An investigation by the Department of Justice's inspector general also
has produced a report that has not been made public.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"