Panama -- Just Saying No

MANUEL ANTONIO NORIEGA'S CONviction came at an exceedingly high price. Washington's eagerness to put Noriega behind bars occasioned the controversial 1989 invasion of Panama that took the lives of 23 American soldiers and at least 500 local citizens. The seven-month, multimillion-dollar trial featured testimony from some 20 dope dealers, pilots and money launderers, much of it in exchange for reduced sentences, cash settlements and other favors. And although President Bush hailed last week's verdict as "a major victory against the drug lords," Noriega's conviction is likely to have little lasting effect on the overall war against the traffickers: cocaine producers in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, like the heroin processors in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, will no doubt continue to ply their lucrative trade.

The good news is that Panama's democratic leaders, boosted by $1 billion worth of U.S. aid, have launched a drug crackdown within their own borders. Panamanian President Guillermo Endara was sworn into office on a U.S. Army base just hours after the American invasion, an act that has come to symbolize the close relationship between the Bush Administration and Noriega's successor. According to dea officials, Endara's willingness to cooperate with international antidrug efforts is helping stanch the flow of cocaine through Panama.

The country's new 10,500-man civilian police force, which replaced the corrupt army-officer corps loyal to Noriega, is getting $20 million worth of U.S. training and equipment. Thanks to an accord reached last year, American investigators have access to secret Panamanian bank records whenever they suspect that accounts are being used to launder drug money. Now that Panama requires local banks to file meticulous reports on large deposits of cash, the cartels are no longer able to make millions of dollars disappear into a financial black hole. Efforts to set up similar laundering systems in Luxembourg and Uruguay have been thwarted, and some Latin dealers have been forced literally to bury their money on their property for safekeeping.

Meanwhile, the number of drug seizures in Panama has more than doubled: nine tons of cocaine were intercepted in 1991, compared with just under four tons the previous year. Intensified police surveillance has also spelled bad news for those who assist the cartels: in the first three months of 1992, 227 traffickers were arrested, in contrast to 102 in the same period a year ago.

Some government critics say the statistics merely prove that the country remains a popular pipeline to the American drug market. In Noriega's day, Colombian cartels -- which are responsible for nearly all the cocaine sold in the U.S. -- regularly used neighboring Panama for back-door operations. But DEA officials dispute that view, arguing that the increased seizures are the result of successful sting operations. Once undercover agents infiltrate a drug ring, the agency often tries to arrange a delivery in Panama City, where the local police force breaks up the deal.