Word: indictmente
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The Miami indictment accuses Noriega of racketeering, and manufacturing, importing and distributing cocaine, as well as traveling to aid the conspiracy.
The indictment says that Noriega, after he took control of Panama in 1983, "utilized his official positions to provide protection for international criminal narcotics traffickers," including the Medellin Cartel, said to be responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States.
Only one of the 16 people named in the Miami indictment is in custody. David Rodrigo Ortiz Hermida, allegedly Escobar's pilot, was arrested last year on the Caribbean isle of Guadaloupe after being caught with a cocaine shipment, according to prosecutors. He is being held by French authorities.
The Miami indictment was presented Thursday to Chief U.S. Magistrate Peter Palermo, who ordered it sealed.
Noriega told CBS News Thursday night that the federal indictment "is strictly a political act aimed at frightening me and other nationalistic Latin American leaders who dare to criticize the United States."