ACCLAIMED DRUG EXPOSE QUESTIONED

LONDON, May 8 That powerful exposi on "60 Minutes" last summer about
Colombian drug runners was frank, fascinating and frightening. It was also,
quite possibly, false.

After a lengthy investigation, London's Guardian newspaper has charged that
the award-winning documentary "The Connection" made by a British TV
network and excerpted on CBS's flagship Sunday night program was
essentially fiction.

The program featured dramatic footage of a drug "mule" said to be smuggling
several million dollars' worth of heroin to London for Colombia's Cali drug
cartel. The Guardian reported, though, that the "mule" actually carried no
drugs, that his trip to London was paid for by the documentary's producers,
and that many of the report's dramatic moments were faked.

The film, replete with hidden cameras, disguised-voice interviews and other
favorite tools of documentary filmmakers, has been shown around the world
and has received eight journalism awards, including three in the United
States. HBO acquired the U.S. rights to the documentary and gave footage to
"60 Minutes" for its report, which aired in June.

But now the network that produced the film says it is "unable to
substantiate" the documentary and is investigating its accuracy. CBS said
today that it will report on Sunday's broadcast of "60 Minutes" that the
story may have been untrue, and will give viewers the full story when
investigations are completed.

The Guardian had spent six months on an exhaustive study of the documentary
made by Carlton Television, reflecting the furiously competitive atmosphere
of London journalism, where a dozen newspapers and four TV networks
regularly investigate and savage one another's reporting.

In the United States, newspapers and TV networks generally don't go on the
attack against the other guy's story; rebuttals to American reporting most
commonly come from political parties, private companies or interest groups.

The documentary was made by Marc de Beaufort, a London-based filmmaker of
Argentine ancestry. Its thesis was that Colombian drug lords had developed
sophisticated methods of smuggling that could outfox police and military
anti-drug efforts.

The film showed a heroin smuggler, or "mule," swallowing a series of
plastic capsules said to contain heroin. Hidden cameras followed the man on
his trip to London's Heathrow Airport.

When the report was shown on "60 Minutes," CBS reporter Steve Kroft said
that the mule had "no problem" slipping past British customs with the
heroin in his stomach. "Another pound of heroin was on the British
streets," the "60 Minutes" report said.

But the Guardian, which says it found the "mule," reports that he actually
swallowed Certs mints, not drugs. It says the flight to London took place
six months later, and was paid for by the filmmaker. And it says the "mule"
was actually turned back at Heathrow because he had a counterfeit passport,
and thus never entered Britain.

After the Guardian's first stories ran this week, de Beaufort, the
producer, declared, "I completely reject all their allegations." But in an
interview with yet another British TV network, Channel 4, de Beaufort said
that he does not know whether the mule actually carried any heroin and
cannot confirm that the smuggler got past the customs gate at the London
airport.

The documentary included a highly dramatized segment in which reporters
under armed guard were taken to a remote location for an interview with a
figure described as a high-ranking member of the Cali drug cartel. "60
Minutes" reported de Beaufort had to travel blindfolded for two days by car
to reach the scene of this secret rendezvous.

The Guardian, quoting a production team member, said the secret location

was actually the producer's hotel room in Colombia. Asked about this on
Channel 4, de Beaufort said he has "absolutely no idea" where the interview
occurred.

The newspaper's story has prompted a series of investigations in addition
to the inquiry by Carlton Television, which financed and broadcast the
film. Some of the journalism groups that gave the program their top prizes
last year are now rethinking the choice.

The British government's watchdog group, the Independent Television
Commission, has launched a study of its own. Unlike the United States,
where government has no power to police the content of news reporting,
there are official regulations here requiring that TV news demonstrate "a
respect for truth."

CBS has not undertaken an investigation of its own, but will report to its
viewers on the results of the British investigations, according to "60
Minutes" spokesman Kevin Tedesco.

) Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)