cannabisnews.com: List Targets Top Drug Traffickers List Targets Top Drug Traffickers Posted by FoM on June 01, 2000 at 05:21:13 PT By The Associated Press Source: New York Times The Clinton administration's newest weapon in the drug war is a financial blacklist of major foreign drug traffickers and their associates. Those on the drug kingpin list would have their U.S. assets frozen in most cases. Americans would be barred from doing business with them. The administration was required to present the list to Congress by today under a law passed last year. ``If they (drug traffickers)are in the business for the money and you tie up the money, you hit them where it hurts the most,'' said Rep. Porter J. Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. But civil libertarians are concerned that assets will be seized before foreign companies have a chance to defend themselves. Some U.S. and foreign companies fear they will be penalized for unwittingly doing business with traffickers. And Mexico is wary of the new law, known as the Foreign Drug Kingpin Designation Act. Mexican officials and legislators have raised their concerns in meetings with their U.S. counterparts in recent months. In a statement from Mexico City late Wednesday, the Mexican foreign relations department repeated that it ``fully agrees with the spirit of the law.'' But it expressed concerns about whether foreign companies in the United States will be given due process of law. It said it has ``demanded the necessary care so that the political process before the U.S. Congress doesn't affect, with unfounded charges, the prestige of innocent Mexican individuals or businesses.'' Sen. Paul D. Coverdell, who sponsored the legislation, said he expects the ``angst'' about the list will calm down after its release. ``I know the list will be very conservative, probably by and large people already under indictment in the United States,'' said Coverdell, R-Ga. ``It will not be a long list.'' A senior administration official said that the first part of the list -- the names of major drug traffickers -- was being reviewed Wednesday by President Clinton in Lisbon, Portugal, where he was meeting with European Union leaders. Those names will be released today and the traffickers' assets will be frozen immediately, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The other part, naming the traffickers' business associates, was being prepared by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but it was unclear when it would be made public. Other names and businesses could be added later. The list could contain names of suspects who have been publicly identified before, such as Alejandro Bernal Madrigal of Colombia, the Arellano Felix brothers in Mexico, Wei Hsueh-kang, a Chinese national, and former Myanmar warlord Khun Sa. Naming business associates has raised greater concerns. TMM, a giant Mexican shipping company that has long fought rumors linking it to drug trafficking, hired a Washington firm to lobby on its behalf. TMM spokesman Luis Calvillo said the company is now reassured that the U.S. government ``has taken the adequate steps to make sure that innocents aren't hurt.'' The U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce is still troubled, though, that any businesses linked to drug trafficking would have to fight in federal court to clear their names. ``It doesn't really enforce the concept of innocent until proven guilty,'' said Jeff Sparshott, spokesman for the chamber in Washington. Supporters of the law note that it was modeled after a 1995 executive order that gave the government the power to penalize Colombian drug traffickers and their associates. Few due process complaints have been raised over the blocking of Colombian assets, they say. Also, a five-member commission has been formed to evaluate the procedure of blocking assets and judicial remedies available to anyone affected by the legislation. Coverdell said he expects U.S. companies will be warned if are they doing business with foreign companies linked to drug traffickers -- and will be expected to sever ties. ``We live in an environment today that institutions have to pay attention to who their clients are,'' he said. By The Associated PressWashington (AP) Published: June 1, 2000Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company Related Articles:Anti-Drug Effort Stalls in Colombia http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5883.shtmlUS Drug Czar Broadens Global Anti-Drug Campaignhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5880.shtmlCannabisNews Articles On Clinton:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/Clinton.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2000 at 17:49:47 PT: More of your tax dollars at work Ever get the feeling you have more to fear from your own government than you do from any DrugLord? http://www.exploream.com/newsstand/drkdeed2.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2000 at 17:16:55 PT: And this is what happens when the good cops ( and yes, despite the tone of what I write, there are a few) find out who they are *really* working for. http://mediafilter.org/MFF/DEA.35.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2000 at 17:04:21 PT: And while they're at it, why not take a look at the very government agencies who have done their level best to support, with guns and money, the very butchers they now decry as being such? http://homepages.go.com/homepages/m/a/r/marthag1/links.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2000 at 16:58:23 PT: So they want to go after companies involved in dealing with drug trafficking, eh?We'll see how long this lasts. Since nearly 70-89% of all US currency shows traces of cocaine, that means a lot of transcations...*corporate transactions*... have taken place.A site many of you will find interesting, if you want to take a peek at some highly unusual *commercial* associations our oh-so-prurient DrugWarriors (and presidential hopefuls!) have had over the years. I invite your attention... and then ask yourself just how stupidly crooked all this is. From the Wilderness [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by rainbow on June 01, 2000 at 08:39:00 PT a select list of companies Well let's see.There are the drug companies who supply raw materials - DuPont?There are the companies who supply the airplanes - Boeing?There are the companies who supply heliocopters - Bell Skikorsky?There are the trucking firms - Swift?The mail delivery firms - FedExpThe ruck and car builders - GM, Ford, Freightliner, International?And yes the companies that supply computers - Dell, Compaq, IBM?This ought to be interesting which money they go after. Of course they are being very cautious about letting us see the list of businesses.Is an associate someone who sells you something?PeaceRainbow [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on June 01, 2000 at 07:01:26 PT Orwell "A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. Such a society, no matter how long it persists, can never afford to become either tolerant or intellectually stable. It can never permit either the truthful recording of facts, or the emotional sincerity, that literary creation demands. -- George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature." [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dddd on June 01, 2000 at 06:43:07 PT a new level This brings the deviousness of this fake "war",to a whole new level of egregiousness!This is a WHOPPER!. Now all that will be needed to take ALL you own,is the opinion of a narco-natzi cop."Also, a five-member commission has been formed to evaluate the procedure of blocking assets and judicialremedies available to anyone affected by the legislation. "...Oh,this makes it fair,and safe from any unjust or mistaken actions!..What a bunch of CRAP...The 5 members of this commission,will be the same assholes who are behind this ghastly outrage! This will receive minimal and watered down press coverage,,and you will note that it is nebulous and open ended in exactly who will be "listed". The news you will see about this will portray it as an insignificant,yet honorable step in the WosDs. Make no mistake,this is HUGE.If they get away with this,it will be the "foot in the door",for things to come.As they said;"Supporters of the law note that it was modeled after a 1995 executive order that gave the government the power topenalize Colombian drug traffickers and their associates. Few due process complaints have been raised over theblocking of Colombian assets, they say." In other words,not many people complained about it then,(how could they?),so that makes it legal to do now. Beware my friends.This is much more than what they are making it look like...dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by J Christen-Mitchell on June 01, 2000 at 06:14:50 PT: Top Drug Running Organization "If the people were to ever find out what we have done, we would be chased down the streets and lynched." George BushThe Colombines and Jonesboros are the result of people like the above. The disconnect between what society says and what it does would cause lab mice to kill themselves.As admitted by Ole' Ollie North, our guvmint knows how to work things out to their advantage. Raise funds for covert operations by dealing death to the inner city where they can help to imprison 7% of Black America as well.And BJ Clinton, whose legacy to the children of America is having educated them about what a BJ is, is the Boss Operator and has enough blood on his hands to stain New York's Senate Race with.Only in Amerika! Truth is far stranger than fiction, unless you consider 'The Manchurian Candidate'.and this is only what we do know about these monsters of the White House. Mena Arkansas Drug Connection [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: