CIA REPORTEDLY SUSPENDS OFFICER FOR AIDING CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 29, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130001-1
LOS ANGELES TiMES MAY 2 9 11987
CIA Reportedly Suspends
Officer for Aiding Contras
y~A'WINES and DOYLE McMANUS, Times Staff Writers
WASHINOTON-The 414-has
Juependsd a covert operations offi-
cer who used agency helicopters in
Honduru to Garry supplies to Nic-
when U.S. aid to the
ran was illegal, intelligence
sources said Thursday.
The tuapensioet is the second
disciplinary action against a CIA
officer stemming from the Iran-
Contra, scandal and the first tangi.
ble result of an internal Investiga-
tion by the agency into secret
operations in Honduras during the
ban on contra aid. The CIA sua-
peoded its station chief in Costa
Rica last winter.
The CIA helicopters. which op.
erated from a Honduran air base,
secretly delivered explosives and
other supplies to contra forces
dtuinr early 1988 and evacuated
wounded contras from the battle.
field. according to U.S. and contra
sources. It was illegal for the CIA to
deliver supplies or provide any
tactical aid to contra military oper?
ations until last October.
According to two Americans
who worked with the contras, the
CIA helicopters also went inside
Nicaragua on several occaaions-
another potential violation of the
law. But U.S. officials said the
officers involved denied that the
helicopters had crossed the border.
Initially, the CIA flatly denied
that any of its officers were In.
volved in aiding the contras during
the period of the congressional ban,
from October, 1984, until October,
1988. But investigations by both
the CIA's inspector general and the
congressional committees investi.
gating the Iran-contra scandal
Qwl~reed tease Page i
slowly Ugiied up a handful of
kswst-level agents who confessed
to suM vat on behalf of the
Now, saws say, the CIA and
ap 0alal tierasuptlae? have
Uri" to the Imm of who autho-
rkrad sod d11111.41111 the illieft opera.
t3oot end weather knowledge of
the so" contra aid eatess+ded to
tbs yse ws higter levels,
"We're working OW way uP the
ladder, rung by rune, one pt or"
anent who has
been amp" aid, sources said, was
the "did of bete miparvistng CIA
e-etioos in siEpaet of the contm
o
p
in HM*AZ-a Man who used the
W" As yearn "Stuart," according
to are somve.
^ An Cason Cited
strmt told investigators that
be not on ( 4or a from his CIA
si>p a or from White House aide
Oliver L North, who difseud ef-
felrts fro urpport the contras but out
of hunuo tartan castes for the
omtres, one knowladgsable official
"?e said he was brought up to
beUerve that you doa't leave your
wa aWd on the battlefield," a
sea the spWe d bba to
Us ho wba the 8*04
rebsis boors' dowtt,-
des
1 t#t 5" Parr
J a
private airlift have complained that
fRoers in Honduras.
"J 0811 was critical to
t1troughout operation, and
Joe remained involved with us
throughout the operation," retired
Army Col. Robert C. Dutton, a
$eoord aide, testified on Wednes-
day.
"At other times, we would try to
enlist Vince, who was chief of
station in (Honduras), and he was
not he sometimes. In Septem -
bar (to", he was more helpful to
us than he had been befoz . We got
a little more assistance from them
as far as intelligence but nothing of
any great ficance-
Investigators are trying to deter-
mine whether more senior official
were involved in directlrsg the
operations, including the CIA sta-
tion chief in Honduras, who bat
been identified in oongrsesiooal
"vicar"i
taslmoay as
rim Jr.. chief of the s
M-M _ America Task Fame. and
aperatlagemy's I . deputy
www for
?asnl %an vo.~_ ?- lay sole of lindw Chlet
wean u
One official said that the agep-
sf ^ ~ timed cy's intarrial soeo mung peace
%? air' a atrnWet dial- ly impossible" for CIA omoses in
- w~ substantial way without the
9"W $ rvefey, "WIN knowledge of the station chief. The
Ittlld.i~~e who wpeksd In agency's financial controls were
tttisaet lbs Um of "ag reportedly made especially rigid in
CW Central America-precisely be-
cause of mngreedooal tears that
The am it CIA operations in CIA offoors would IIlepkb timed
HoodlwI& officials said. were po-
ynusay much larger than Taresan.
den's opersUon in Costa Rica. TM
onnttas' largest bases are in Hon-
dures, and CIA helicopters fre-
qteett~tled between the main
UJL- air bus at Palma.
ale. the! maim contra sir base at
Aguacate and areas along the bor.
4er with NleanW&
Cedasi at CIA
In tWit:wny before the oomgrm.
OW committees, however, WT.
at llgttue Involved in Seoord's
-rho systma of aooau tablllI7 is
stab that you can't not babdop as
between Aguaeate and a canine
it." the o& w said "The chief of
ststiotl I. rssponstble for all nativity
us the country-and that iocludse
helicopter movements, becaus
they cast first, and fuel costs on.
ey.09
he CIA already has waapestdied
Joe Fernandes, its forsoee chid of
svtioa In Cotta Rift Who used tbs
ASTAT
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130001-1
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130001-1
?rume Tonto Castillo, for his part In
aiding the secret Conte airlift no
by North and retired Air Force I$
Celt. Richard V. Seoord Fernandes
is scheduled to testily before the
House and Senate committees in-
vetntigatittg the scandal in closed
mo dontoday
Fernandes was recalled to
Washington and suspended with
pay last winter alter admitting
-unauthorized Contacts" with the
pnvats operators of the contras'
mltitary supply pipeline. An inter-
nal CIA Investigation Initially
cleared Fernandes of any sorrow
dence later sh~owed~that he shad
relayed key data on weapons air.
drops to operators Of the supply
network, wing a Computer coding
device supplied by NortA.
Ieeaats Slsty
LM year. Fernandez told Col-
lossuss that his activities were
...:r approved by senior CIA
officials, lneluding Fiore and
Oeorp. But Fernandes later re-
canted that story and adopted an
H
Hand" 0115esrs-that be aced
wihaut the k iowbd/a of boost. If
eat alt. ot! Ms sups i s
pA aIIdab bad Pk=ad tbds
spell to dt-"W or rmiea l~nan-
d. boom army seevia but sours-
es say be br been tole Mara
reoantly that his career wall be
sa1topd.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130001-1