Wanted: Noriega

The ritual was familiar, but the specifics were unprecedented. When U.S. Attorneys in Miami and Tampa announced two major criminal indictments last Friday, it was not just another drug bust. The accused was General Manuel Antonio Noriega, commander in chief of the Panama Defense Forces and de facto ruler of an important U.S. ally. He was charged with drug trafficking, laundering millions of dollars in illicit profits and providing safe haven for some of the world's most notorious narcotics barons.

In Tampa, U.S. Attorney Robert Merkle accused Noriega of conspiring to import and distribute more than 1 million lbs. of marijuana into the U.S. In Miami, U.S. Attorney Leon Kellner charged the general with accepting $4.6 million in payoffs for allowing Colombia's powerful drug cartel to ship more than 4,000 lbs. of cocaine through Panama to the U.S. Noriega also allegedly permitted the cartel to set up a cocaine-processing plant in Panama and to temporarily relocate its headquarters there after the murder of Colombia's Justice Minister in 1985. The general, Kellner charged, had "utilized his position to sell the country of Panama to drug traffickers."

Although rumors of the indictments had been circulating for weeks, no one could be sure that Washington would allow the unusual prosecution. To stem the flow of drugs into the U.S., the Administration has leaned heavily on Latin American governments to root out the drug moguls, whose guns and money have intimidated or bought off local authorities. But never before has the U.S. targeted an individual Latin leader. Coming just two days after the House of Representatives rejected further aid to the contras, the criminal charges against Noriega not only raise the stakes in the war on drugs but presage even more troubles for the U.S.'s battered Central American policy.

Panama, far more than war-torn Nicaragua, is Central America's prize. The 51-mile-long canal, still under U.S. control, has major strategic value; Panama is also one of the U.S.'s prime listening posts in the region and home to the 10,000-man U.S. Southern Command. To some, the U.S.'s difficulties in Panama are reminiscent of Iran. Having struck another Faustian bargain with a ruthless and corrupt dictator, the U.S. again finds itself turning against a longtime client with no viable democratic replacement in the wings.

The Reagan Administration and its predecessors have long been aware of Noriega's seamy dealings. Nonetheless, top officials in the State and Defense departments and the CIA vigorously supported him, citing his cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies and willingness to let the U.S. military operate broadly in Panama. Even as the Administration finally took action, new charges suggested that Noriega played a role in the Iran-contra arms deal as well. Jose Blandon, until recently Panama's consul general in New York City and a close political adviser to Noriega, disclosed that the general had conspired with Lieut. Colonel Oliver North, the former National Security Council aide, to dispatch, then intercept, a shipment of East German arms to El Salvador's leftist guerrillas. The motive: to blame Nicaragua for supplying the weapons, thereby supporting the charge that the Sandinistas are exporting their revolution.