Copyright 1996 The Dallas Morning News  
                            THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
               December 12, 1996, Thursday, HOME FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 43A
LENGTH: 1278 words
HEADLINE: Investigation shows no CIA ties in drug raid
BYLINE: Pamela Kramer, Pete Carey, San Jose Mercury News
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
 BODY:
   LOS ANGELES - A two-month investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department of a controversial 1986 drug raid has yielded about 3,700 pages of
documents - and no evidence of wrongdoing by the department, nor of interference
in the raid by the CIA, officials announced Tuesday.
   But among the masses of pages released by Sheriff Sherman Block are
interviews with former sheriff's deputies making clear they believed at the time
of the raid that they were dealing with people who had connections to
CIA-backed Nicaraguan contras and, possibly, to the CIA.  The investigation 
also revealed that three sheriff's deputies stole more than $ 50,000 from two
targets of the raid.
   The inquiry was prompted by a three-day San Jose Mercury News series in
August that detailed how a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the
street gangs of south-central Los Angeles and helped spark the "crack" cocaine
epidemic.  The series said that millions of dollars in drug profits was funneled
to the Nicaraguan contras, an anti-communist commando group supported by the
CIA during the 1980s.  The Mercury News series never reported direct CIA
involvement, though many readers drew that conclusion.
   The inquiry was intended to answer charges that the Sheriff's Department had 
turned over evidence collected in the Oct. 27, 1986, drug raid to the CIA or
was involved in any kind of coverup of government wrongdoing.
   The drug raid was mentioned in the series and in subsequent stories, raising 
questions about whether two Nicaraguans and a young black drug dealer from
south-central Los Angeles had been protected from prosecution by federal
agencies because of the Nicaraguans' affiliation with the CIA-backed contras. 
   The Nicaraguans were Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandon.  Mr. Meneses supplied
Mr. Blandon with cocaine for a period of time in the 1980s.  Mr. Blandon, in
turn, was a major supplier to "Freeway" Rick Ross, a notorious drug dealer from 
the streets of south-central Los Angeles.  Mr. Blandon and Mr. Meneses were
supporters of the contras.
   "We never uncovered that the CIA was involved in any way" in arranging for 
or knowing about any drug profits that may have been sent to the contras by the 
Nicaraguan ring that was the object of the 1986 raid, said Sheriff Block.
   Rep.  Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, speaking after the sheriff's news
conference, said she was pleased that the department had investigated the matter
but added that holes remain and "this report raises more questions about the
operation."
   She said she will continue to investigate new information coming forth to
make sure that congressional intelligence committees probing the possible
contra-cocaine-government links are fully and meticulously informed.
   Among other things, the sheriff said:
   * Contrary to some reports, evidence seized in the raid did not
"mysteriously" disappear from the sheriff's department's control, but was
"properly" handled.
   Some deputies involved in the raid said earlier that they had been told the
CIA took the materials.  But during the investigation, the report said, Deputy
Daniel Garner "admitted to jokingly remarking" to another deputy that the FBI or
CIA had "been there and taken the evidence."
   * Mr. Blandon did not make Mr. Ross into a drug dealer.  "Ross was a dealer
years before he met Blandon," Sheriff Block said.  He said there is no evidence 
that millions of dollars went to the contras from the drug operation.  "The
money went to Blandon's pockets" or to suppliers.
   * During the inquiry, investigators discovered that three deputies had stolen
more than $ 50,000 from Mr. Blandon and a second target, Ronald Lister, a
self-styled arms dealer.
   * Investigators found that a portion of the original search warrant was
embellished, apparently in an effort to more easily obtain a judge's signature
for the search.
   The inquiry "developed no evidence of the U.S. federal government, including 
the CIA, in the Los Angeles drug trafficking activities of Danilo Blandon.
The inquiry has not uncovered any evidence that Ricky Ross was used as a pawn to
deliver drugs to specific neighborhoods.  Finally, it has not uncovered any
evidence that the Los Angeles sheriff's department was involved in any . . .
   coverup."
   Sheriff Block also criticized Mercury News reporter Gary Webb, who wrote the 
Dark Alliance series.  Among other things, Sheriff Block cited a letter from Mr.
Webb's agent to Mr. Ross - sent in care of Mr. Webb - in which the agent offered
to represent Mr. Ross in negotiating the rights to his story.
   Sheriff Block alleged that "there appears to be a relationship between Gary
Webb and Ricky Ross that may go beyond the parameters of unbiased reporting."
   Mr. Webb disagreed, adding that he never received the letter.
   "It's not true," he said.  "We don't have any business relationship
whatsoever.  My only relationship with Ricky Ross is as a source."
   Sheriff Block said Mr. Webb's stories helped Mr. Ross create a defense that
his drug dealing was inspired by a CIA conspiracy.
   Last month, however, Mr. Ross was sentenced to life in prison without
possibility of parole on drug charges.
   In interviews with sheriff's investigators, several members of the team that 
conducted the search said they found materials related to the contras, as well
as materials described in an evidence log as "miscellaneous CIA info."
   Sgt. Ed Huffman said he recalled seeing photographs of people in a tropical
setting, "in military fatigues and tennis shoes." One of the individuals in the 
photograph was "a white-haired individual" whom Sgt. Huffman identified as
"Colero" - an apparent reference to prominent contra fund-raiser and political
leader Adolfo Calero.
   Sgt. Huffman was heavily relied on by investigators because he is one of the 
few deputies involved in the raid who is still with the department and untouched
by a later drug-money-skimming scandal.  He told investigators he had no idea
why another deputy entered on an evidence log of materials seized from Mr.
Lister's home "one brown bag, photos, miscellaneous CIA info."
   Immediately after the raid, Sgt. Huffman thought there might be a connection 
among the CIA, the contras and the Blandon ring, investigators wrote.  He also
said he believed federal agencies with more resources were poised to deal with
Mr. Blandon's ring.
   Investigators reported that Sgt. Huffman told them: "We went as far as we
could as deputy sheriffs.  We handed this thing off to federal agencies to
further investigate it.  We did our job. . . .
   even though we knew contras were involved, we went after them. . .
   .  We took on federal agencies with us to investigate it.  And there was no
coverup, there was no hiding."
   The initial investigation leading up to the raid apparently was charged with 
intense suspicion among some deputies that they were about to go after a U.S.
government-related drug operation.  A former deputy reportedly told a colleague 
that he believed thegovernment - possibly the CIA - was bringing drugs into
the country and shipping weapons out.
   Evidence was copied by the deputies because of a fear, reportedly expressed
by then-Deputy Tom Gordon, that those items "may disappear real quick."
   While Sheriff Block said that the inquiry had yielded a complete record of
the case, he later confirmed that the department still has not found the
original search warrant affidavit.  He earlier had said the department got its
copy from the Mercury News Web site.
   A former police officer involved in the raid also told investigators that
large sections of reports he filed on it were missing.
   Distributed by Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire