Conroy: Money Laundering & Murder in Colombia

Conroy: Money Laundering & Murder in Colombia

May 19, 2008
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Dear Colleague,

Narco News’ investigation into alleged DEA corruption in Colombia has led journalist Bill Conroy to the discovery of several documents, the most well known to date being the “Kent Memo.” Now Conroy has uncovered even more info, utilizing the Freedom of Information Act, which implicates two former high-level DEA agents in acts of dishonesty-under-oath that likely brought about the murder of a DEA informant, a chemist that had blown the whistle on high-tech cocaine smuggling techniques.

Conroy reports:

“Informants working for Group Supervisor Fields’ Florida agents sent samples of the cocaine-laced acrylic to the DEA, but the agency’s chemists couldn’t figure out how to extract the cocaine. As a result, the Florida agents decided to have the informants come to the United States with a sample of the acrylic, so they could walk DEA’s chemists through the extraction process.

“…But when the informants got to the airport to leave for the U.S., they were arrested. A DEA agent in Bogotá, it turns out, had told Colombian officials to ‘lock them (the informants) up and throw away the key,’ according to the Kent memo. The Bogotá agent then claimed that he had no idea the Florida agents had given the informants permission to transport the cocaine.

“‘His misrepresentations were backed by another agent in Bogotá,’ Kent states in the memo. The informants were imprisoned for nine months while the accusations flew back and forth. Once it was determined that the agents in Bogotá were lying, the informants were released. One of the informants was kidnapped and murdered in Bogotá where he had gone into hiding.’

Conroy goes on to explain how the DEA’s lack of verification to the Colombian police of a DEA informant eventually led to his death after being released from prison.

Also learned from the recently obtained FOIA documents is the connection of another former high-ranking DEA Colombian-branch official in Colombia, Leo Arreguin Jr., to the infamous right-wing paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

Get all the information in the breaking story only at Narco News online:

http://www.narconews.com

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