92000E2346

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2346/00

by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council

(24 July 2000)

Subject: Connivance between traffickers and anti-drugs authorities

In May 2000, the US Congress committee for the secret services published the conclusions of the parliamentary inquiry into the role of the CIA in the support given to the Nicaraguan Contras in the early 1980s.

During the hearings, which were held in camera, former CIA agents confirmed that the Contras were allowed to benefit from a policy of active tolerance with the blessing of the US secret services, which enabled them to self-finance their armed campaign, thanks to the profits of an extensive cocaine-trafficking network.

Was the Council aware of these circumstances? Does the Council consider these dubious practices to be a purely exceptional phenomenon in terms of anti-drugs-trafficking policy, or is it, on the contrary, in possession of similar information for other regions of the world, for recent years or for today? Does the Council not consider that, in view of the seriousness of this case, it should raise the matter in the relevant international forums, beginning with the UN's anti-drugs authority (the UNDCP)? Does the Council not also consider that, in view of the seriousness of the matter, it should propose, as a matter of urgency, the revision of the international conventions on narcotics with a view to creating a single legal framework to cover all activities related to the production of marketing of substances forbidden under present law?

Reply

(7 November 2000)

The facts raised by the Honourable Member have not been discussed by the Council.