Plain-English summary
Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator John C. Lawn informs CIA Director William H. Webster about upcoming congressional hearings chaired by Congressman Hughes. The letter notes that the hearings are expected to examine drug law enforcement, national security concerns, the Noriega case, Barry Seal, and Contra resupply. Lawn formally requests that the CIA check its records regarding specific individuals to prepare for the hearings, though the names in the document are redacted.
Key line (verbatim from the document)“The Noriega case, the Nicaraguan case involving the now deceased defendant/ informant Barry Seal, and the general area of Contra resupply are a few of the areas of inquiry”
Summary written with AI help from the document text and checked against it; the key line is matched word for word to the text. Read the original before citing.
Tags
Barry SealCannabis Investigations SectionCentral Intelligence AgencyDrug Enforcement AdministrationHughesJack ShortJohn C. LawnNew JerseyNoriegaWashington, D.C.William H. Webster
SourceCIA. Original · Internet Archive mirror. U.S. government work, public domain.
Full text (3,871 characters)
ER 88-3459X
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/01 : CIA-RDP90MO0005R000600090008-4
i
: 7 SS Drug Enforcement Administration
Washington, D.C. 20537
SEP 9 1988
Honorable William H. Webster
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Dear Judge Webster:
During the course of the next several weeks, there will
be hearings conducted by Congressman Hughes of New Jersey.
These hearings are expected to focus on a number of issues
which have not yet been fully defined. We do anticipate,
however, that one area of inquiry will be the utilization of
persons by Taw enforcement and/or the intelligence community
who are significant drug traffickers or involved in other
activities, such as the movement of weapons.
I expect also that these hearings will focus on the
issue of the interrelationship between drug law enforcement
and national security concerns and whether or not the
balance between the two is appropriate. The Noriega case,
the Nicaraguan case involving the now deceased defendant/
informant Barry Seal, and the general area of Contra
resupply are a few of the areas of inquiry.
While I believe some of the motivation for these
hearings is political, nonetheless, I expect them to be
difficult and we must be as prepared as possible due to the
complex nature of these cases and issues. Over the course
of the past months, we have made informal inquiries of the
Central Intelligence Agency as to any relationship that the
agency may have had with certain of these individuals.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/01 : CIA-RDP9OMO0005RO00600090008-4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/01 : CIA-RDP9O0MOO0005R000600090008-4
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I believe that it is in the best interests of both
organizations that we ascertain what relationships did exist
with DEA/CIA and what impact that may or may not have on us
at these hearings. It is, therefore, requested that you
make a formal check of your records at CIA pertaining to the
following individuals:
STAT
It is requested that you respond as soon as possible,
as the hearings are due to commence as early as the week of
September 12. Jack Short, Acting Chief of the Cannabis
Investigations Section, is DEA's action officer and can be
reached at 633-5628.
Sincerely,
| a
J C. Lawn
A nistrator
Declassified
in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved
for Release 2013/02/01 : CIA-RDP9O0MOO0005RO000600090008-4