A well-known military general in the Panama National Guard, Manuel Noriega worked with the CIA for a period of 30 years, providing information on their payroll. However, it was after a period of time when the DEA indited Noreiga on drug charges, in 1989, before the CIA started to question just where Noreiga's allegiance truly lay. Not only was he suspect to sharing information with several of America's enemies, including Communist Cuba, but he was even discovered selling weapons to the Nicaraguans without disclosing this transaction to anyone in America. The final nail on the coffin came down though, when he was caught trafficking cocaine into America in the drug charges of '89. President George H.W. Bush ordered a full-scale assault on Panama, sending 25,000 troops to capture Noreiga. After capturing him successfully, Noreiga stood trial in Miami, Florida for drug trafficking, conspiracy, and racketeering. Though the judgement was a guilty verdict, Noreiga's 40 year sentence was cut down to 17 instead.There were two interesting factors in this case that separated it from the rest. Firstly, this case in particular showcased a criminal that was issued nearly an army to bring to justice, a move that hand't been executed in quite some time. Two, this was in fact, the first America court case involving a major foreign head of government, and considering the lengths we took to get him here, I'd say the court system certainly came through to prevent anything bad from happening to our country in the long in, in terms of what could have happened if Noreiga had stayed in power.
For more info on this massive case, visit the link below:
No comments:
Post a Comment