How to Traffic Drugs From Colombia Using U.S. Apathy
Articles - News, Politics and Issues
If you sell drugs, you do hard time. If you profit from drugs, your property is confiscated. These past few decades have been a festival of slogans and increased penalties aimed at penalizing those who sold or trafficked drugs. We've even started grading other nations on their efforts, threatening them with a loss of aide to their military forces. One thing is for sure, if you sell drugs, the United States will punish you. Unless, of course, you happen to be a U.S. Colonel in charge of U.S. anti-narcotic operations in Colombia who was instrumental in laundering drug money and a partner in having someone traffic drugs to the United States using international treaties and diplomacy. That's okay.If you sell drugs, you do hard time. If you profit from drugs, your property is confiscated. These past few decades have been a festival of slogans and increased penalties aimed at penalizing those who sold or trafficked drugs. We've even started grading other nations on their efforts, threatening them with a loss of aide to their military forces. One thing is for sure, if you sell drugs, the United States will punish you. Unless, of course, you happen to be a U.S. Colonel in charge of U.S. anti-narcotic operations in Colombia who was instrumental in laundering drug money and a partner in having someone traffic drugs to the United States using international treaties and diplomacy. That's okay.
The United States is constantly threatening Latin American nations for not having tough sentences or strong enough drug enforcement. We have an extradition treaty with Colombia, and are trying to enter into a vague treaty with El Salvador that would allow us to extradite for crimes committed before the date of the treaty. In the past, we've even invaded a sovereign nation to get our man.
Colonel James C. Hiett asked for a transfer out of Bogotá when the investigation into his wife's activities began. His wife, who had a history of cocaine use before the Colombia assignment, was accused of using diplomatic mail to send heroin and cocaine to a contact, Hernan Arcila, in Queens, New York. Laurie Anne Hiett tried to convince everyone that she thought the intercepted package had candy in it. Finally she confessed, telling a tale of international drug smuggling and flights to New York to receive payment and launder the money. Laurie Anne was released on $150,000 bond, while Mr. Arcila was held without bail. Both Arcila and Laurie Anne faced up to nine years in prison for trafficking charges. After pleading guilty to conspiring to import more that $700,000 worth of heroin, the judge only sentenced Mrs. Hiett, the person who abused diplomatic treaties to import drugs into the U.S., to five years because of her "emotional" state. Mr. Arcila was sentenced to five years and three months.
Finally, after a long period of lying to his superiors and investigative authorities, Colonel Hiett confessed to the charge of "misprision of a felony", failing to report a crime. During his confession, he admitted to storing around $50,000 in his apartment and embassy safe. He systematically made small deposits and purchased money orders to avoid having to report the income. He also confessed to not returning unspent portions. So, the Colonel who was in charge of operations in Colombia lied to his superiors, lied to investigators, systematically laundered money and was, at the very least, complicit in trafficking drugs into the United States using government services, treaties and property which were dedicated to fighting drugs. For this, on the same day Clinton signed a bill which would provide Colombia with more aide, Colonel Hiett was sentenced to five months in prison, five months home detention, and seven months probation. Federal prosecutors say he could face a reduced pension and possible court martial. This would be difficult since the Army's Criminal Investigative Division has cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the United States is trying to extradite the Hiett's Colombian chauffeur, Jorge Alfonso Ayala. I suppose this will show the U.S. drug policies in Latin America are working. After all, we don't tolerate any level of drug activity.
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- The Strange Drug War - Workers World provides an editorial about the standards of fighting drugs in Colombia.
- U.S. Colonel to Plead Guilty in Colombia Drug Probe - Detailed coverage by Karen DeYoung, reporting for the Washington Post.
- US Double Standard On 'War On Drugs' Angers Colombians - "This would surely be a scandal for Colombia if a sentence of this magnitude were handed down for a crime of this nature," Gomez Mendez said.
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- Salvadorans Balk at American Plan to Use Airport - The United States has touched a nerve in El Salvador by seeking to set up a military logistics point for its war on drugs in a country where American advisers, intelligence and money not long ago helped fuel a devastating civil war.
- Concern Mounts As Extradition Vote Nears - "The Commission, which unites 12 organizations from throughout region, charged that the agreement under discussion by the Francisco Flores government and Washington does not insure due process, especially given that negotiators propose to implement it retroactively." - A report by Néfer Muñoz of LATNN about the new extradition treaty with El Salvador.
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