Former Government Lawyers Indicted

Will Lester reported in the June 5, 1995, San Francisco Examiner that the U.S. Attorney's office indicted more than sixty people as a result of an investigation into the Cali cocaine cartel.

Three former U.S. Department of Justice lawyers (including the former head of the department's office of internal affairs), two former federal prosecutors and a former federal attorney were indicted, along with smugglers, distributors and lawyers in the U.S. and in Colombia.

The indictment, most of whose information came from a captured smuggler's computer files, claimed the Cali cartel brings in 80 percent of the U.S. cocaine supply. The U.S. Attorney's office warned that Colombia must have the "resolve" to arrest the indicted Cali cartel leaders, or the U.S. will continue to import "record levels" of cocaine.

Now, not too long ago, the Medellin cartel was the Bad Guy who imported all our cocaine. "Resolve" to bust the Medellin cartel, combined with literally cut-throat competition from Cali, served only to change the names and home base of the Bad Guys. Why will this time be any different? As long as there is demand, there will be suppliers. All the "resolve" in the world won't change that basic fact.

Source: "Cocaine probe snares lawyers," in the June 5, 1995 Examiner.