Page 121 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

EPILOGUE

The elections are history; the fraud was consummated; Barletta went
around the world in search of his lost prestige and on July 1, Panama woke up to
the not altogether surprising news that a member of the Defense Forces General
Staff had been removed from office on charges or associating with people knows
to be involved in international drug trafficking.

The news was hardly surprising as for years articles had been appearing
in the national and international press on the alleged ties of high military and
civilian figures of the regime to the drug traffic. This sordid connection was
mentioned, for instance, during the debates in the U.S. Senate on the Torrijos-
Carter Treaties. More recently, on June 8, 1982, La Prensa published this item
on its front page:

“High officers of Panama’s National Guard could
be involved in the smuggling of 1,197 pounds of

cocaine discovered by U.S. customs agents in a
Convair 880 cargo plane as it landed in New Iberia,

Louisiana, from Panama, a U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration agent told The Miami Herald”.

And on November 7, 1983, La Prensa again published a report on this
story on its front page. This time the information had come from the prestigious
Wall Street Journal of New York, whose features are widely respected for their
professionalism and accuracy. Transcribed below are some excerpts from the
coverage in La Prensa:

“The Director General of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), Dr. H. Cash, believes that Panama is the
ideal hiding place. Each year, over one billion dollars from drug
trafficking profits is deposited in its banks.

On May 4, a DEA official noticed a private jet leaving Miami
bound for Panama. Its chief passenger –Ramón Milán Rodríguez—
was carrying the not inconsiderable sum of 5.4 million dollars in
cash.

Assistant U.S. District Attorney Kenneth Neto stated that he has a
tape recording where the subject arrested [Milán Rodríguez] says
that when the money arrives in Panama, the National Guard takes
care of protecting it.
Two INAIR [Panamanian air cargo company] officials were

indicted with Milán Rodríguez”.