Word: colombianizing
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...Colombian cocaine cartel leaders are apparently investing in precious gems. "Cash is a pain," says a DEA official. "It's bulky if you move it, traceable if you bank it, and it mildews if you bury it." Which may explain why Colombians have been reported buying up jewels -- principally diamonds -- in Antwerp, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. U.S. agents don't think these buyers are Christmas shopping. "You can transport millions of dollars' worth of diamonds in your back pocket," says an investigator. Furthermore, diamonds don't rot when stored in the underground caches favored by Colombian dons...
...members of the Colombian armed forces and police defeat the cartels? The top-heavy law-enforcement agencies were not designed to be a narcotics strike force. According to a secret government report, the army, navy and air force -- all involved in the drug war -- are still mainly structured and equipped to repel foreign invaders, not homegrown terrorists. The air force bought fighter jets in 1987-88 but needs helicopters to search the rugged hillsides and dense jungles where drug laboratories are concealed. The navy spent $90 million to repair submarines instead of investing in light powerboats to chase traffickers...
...Colombian police and army corrupt? Some are; most are not. Colombian officials privately acknowledge that the army and, to a lesser degree, the police are infiltrated by the drug gangs. Says a Western diplomat: "There's too much money to be made by being Escobar's friend. And being his enemy is the quickest way I know to get killed...
...Colombian authorities really want to destroy the cartels? No. The goal is primarily to drive them out of Colombia, which would not necessarily curtail cocaine production. Officials distinguish between drug trafficking, which mainly threatens the consumer countries, and narcoterrorism inside Colombia, which they are determined to stop. The constant terror bombings and assassinations have led to widespread calls for negotiation with the cartels. But that option has been rejected by both Barco and President-elect Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, who has promised to pursue the war when he takes office in August...
Though Noriega lawyer Steve Kollin confirmed that his client has had many messages faxed to Panama, he denied that any of them were even vaguely threatening and dismissed the allegations as "the figment of someone's imagination." Meanwhile, Carlos Lehder Rivas, the once powerful Colombian drug lord who is now in a U.S. federal prison in Marion, Ill., awaiting appeal on his life sentence for drug charges, has written to Noriega. He advised his fellow prisoner to confess all and save himself the trouble and expense of a trial. That's advice Noriega is likely to ignore as long...