INTERNAL INQUIRY ABSOLVES CIA OF CRACK-TRADE ROLE

A CIA internal investigation found no evidence linking its employees,
agents or operatives with the crack-cocaine drug epidemic in the United
States and no connection between the agency and three men at the center of
that drug trade.

The findings, released Thursday, counter allegations made in a series of
1996 newspaper reports of a CIA link to cocaine trafficking in
south-central Los Angeles. The CIA released the first of two volumes of
conclusions reached by agency Inspector General Frederick Hitz, who led a
17-member team that reviewed 250,000 pages of documents and conducted 365
interviews.

The report found no evidence that CIA employees or agents colluded with
allies of Nicaraguan contra rebels to finance their guerrilla operations by
bringing crack cocaine into the United States.

"I am satisfied that the IG has left no stone unturned in his efforts to
uncover the truth," CIA Director George Tenet said in a written statement
accompanying the report.