01x03 - The w*r on Drugs

[bunniefuu]

MAN LAUGHS

SOSA [OVER TV]: I like you,
Tony. There is no lying in you.

I think you speak
from the heart, Montana.

I think you and me,
we can work this thing out.

We do business together
a long time.

MAN CHUCKLES

GARY [IN SPANISH]:

I'll only tell you one time.

Don't f*ck me, Tony.

[IN SPANISH]

GARY:

GERARDO:

YELLS

GERARDO:

MICHAEL:
I'm in Argentina,

and I receive a phone call
from an informant.

They said that
the fix is in with the judge.

And I call Richie Fiano.

RICHIE: You've got possession

with intent to
distribute cocaine.

I mean, it's 350 kilos.
It's not for personal use.

Scott and I had worked together
for eight years.

And he was a great prosecutor.

SCOTT: We had pictures of
Gutierrez and Gasser

going to the bank.

We have Lawler's testimony
that he met them,

showing them the money.

So, yeah, it worked.

It was my impression from
Mike Levine and Richie Fiano

that going after Suárez,

this is gonna help stop
the flow of cocaine,

attack the big guy,
the supplier.

We wanted to prosecute
Roberto Suárez.

RICHIE: I thought
we had a solid case.

There were good tapes
of Suárez and Mike speaking.

So getting them
out of the country

would be the hard thing.

But as far as convicting,
no problem.

SCOTT: This was a big case.
You want to be more informed.

And you're doing your own little
research about the country.

I realized that Roberto Suárez

came from
a very prominent family.

And their attorney presented
nine affidavits to the court.

Of course, I looked at them.

One of them was from Arce Gómez,

the minister of the interior.

That bothered me.

I remember telling the judge,

"Whatever bond you set,

these people have the capacity
to flee."

And I told him
the magnitude of the case.

And I told him
the amount of money involved.

MICHAEL: You don't get
a stronger case than that.

There is no such thing
as a stronger case.

And that's what we gave.

CHRISTIAN: Six people
were indicted,

including Roberto Suárez
and his son.

The next step was then
for the judge to set the bail

for those two arrested,
Gutierrez and Gasser.

And he set a relatively low
bail amount.

$3 million for Gutierrez,
and $1 million for Gasser.

It might have been
a week or two later,

he reduced
Gutierrez's bond to $1 million.

RICHIE: The risk of flight
was so high,

that for this judge
to lower bail

is suspicious.

There was nothing left
for me to say,

no place left for me to appeal.

It plays out exactly
as the informant told me.

RICHIE: Gasser made
the $1 million right away

and was gone.

And it took some time
for Gutierrez,

but he made it,
and then he was gone.

JOHN: When the judge
dropped the bail and they fled,

I was disappointed, frustrated.

SCOTT: I felt real bad.
We all did.

Because we wanted
to take to court

the people involved in this
massive drugs-smuggling case.

And we didn't have anyone
to prosecute.

I was enraged.

I went to the gym and beat the
sh*t out of a bag,

which is what I always do.

I mean,
what is wrong with you people?

Do you people want
the case to fail so badly?

CHRISTIAN: Levine was convinced

that his investigation
into Suárez

stood in the way
of other US interests.

It's a puzzle
with missing pieces.

CROWD [IN SPANISH]:

GARY:

VLADIMIR [IN SPANISH]:

CARLOS [IN SPANISH]:

EDUARDO [IN SPANISH]:

CHRISTIAN: At his peak,

Roberto Suárez controlled


CHRISTIAN: Altmann continued to
work as an advisor for Suárez.

He felt protected.

He was sure that
he could not be extradited.

[IN SPANISH]

GARY:

MICHAEL: There was an article
in Newsweek, a major article.

A lot of attention, in which
the Suárez case was mentioned.

I could see the journalists had
no idea what really happened.

It was written up
in a misdirected way,

as though the US government

was doing its best
and being beaten back.

To me, that was
like a punch in the face.

I wanted to say, "Bullshit.

There's no plan
to really win a w*r on drugs."

I was outraged. I was furious.

I had to strike back.
I had to do something.

Next thing,
I'm at my desk in the embassy,

writing a letter to Larry Rohter
and Steven Strasser.

In the letter,
I list all the crap.

Ten, 12 pages long.
I write the report of this case.

The thrust of the letter is,
"I want somebody to investigate.

I don't want publicity.

Please don't tell anyone that
you got this letter from me."

MAX: A lot of people,
they've had their problems,

but they wouldn't even
tell anybody about it.

Mike laid it all out,
his conflict with supervisors.

I give him credit
for being honest about that.

MICHAEL: The letter
was delivered

to these Newsweek journalists.

And in it I said, "Talk to me.
I was the agent in charge."

I wrote it
on the US Embassy stationery.

So I couldn't expose myself more
as a whistleblower.

Whistleblower
in any federal agency

is tantamount to suicide.

It's at least career suicide.

But I was so furious,
that I did not give a f*ck.

Within a week,

I was under investigation
by internal security.

CHRISTIAN: When an agent of
a US agency contacts journalists

with internal details
of an investigation,

normally this leads
to a dismissal, immediately.

So there must have been people
in the DEA

who were still on Levine's side.

He suspected that
other US interests

were influencing
the w*r on drugs.

There were several indications
that the CIA

was at least very active
in this period in Bolivia.

Because its mission was to keep
Latin America anti-communist.

GARY:

GERARDO:

CHRISTIAN:

CARLOS:

GERARDO:

[IN SPANISH]

GARY:

GERMAN:

After the case went down
and everybody's happy about it.

But Mike got reprimanded
for how he spent money.

MICHAEL:

MICHAEL: So, this went on
for a while.

I was trying
to stay in Argentina.

PHONE RINGS

I wanted to stay in Argentina,
where I felt safe.

They said,
"No, you're coming back,

whether you like it or not."

I was forcibly transferred
back from Argentina

to DEA headquarters,

to an office that was
about the size of a big closet.

And I'm under investigation.

So that really preoccupied me.

CHRISTIAN: In the end,
the DEA's spectacular operation

looked more like
an expensive failure.

But it's definitely the case
that Michael Levine's operation

led to the identification
of Roberto Suárez

as a major,
worldwide cocaine dealer.

And that would have
consequences later.

MARLENE [IN SPANISH]:

Klaus Barbie
was advising paramilitary

and police here on
methods of t*rture.

The elite here knew who he was.

But I think, at that point,
there was no understanding

of the big role
that he was playing.

GERMAN:

GLORIA [IN SPANISH]:

g*nf*re

sh**ting

g*nsh*t

GERARDO:

GERMAN:

MAN:
We've seen a number of stories

talking about arrests,
t*rture, repression,

being practiced
by the Bolivian military regime.

[IN SPANISH]

KNOCKING

GARY:

CHRISTIAN: Levine's action
had made Suárez vulnerable.

And this ultimately
led to the fact

that the US government
was able to identify him

and put pressure on García Meza.

Meza had no choice
but to betray Suárez,

his most important partner
in the narco state.

GERMAN:

PRESIDENT:

GARY:

REPORTER: President Reagan's
team is looking at US relations

with our neighbors
in Central and South America.

The 60 Minutes piece came out
with "The Minister of Cocaine."

The Minister of Cocaine
is the central figure

in the most lucrative cocaine
operation in the world,

in Bolivia,

source of 80% of the cocaine
on this earth.

ALEXANDER: It had huge effect
in Bolivia.

In Washington at the time,
I imagine it was overwhelming.

It certainly would have
convinced

anybody who had any doubts

that the regime
was involved in drugs.

REPORTER: His name
is Luis Arce Gómez.

He was the man charged

with enforcing his country's
drug laws,

though he is himself
a drug dealer.

SCOTT: The producers
for Mike Wallace told me

that they're doing a segment
on Arce Gómez.

REPORTER: Assistant US Attorney
Scott Miller.

Is Luis Arce Gómez
in your DEA file?

Yes, we're aware
of Mr. Arce Gómez.

REPORTER: The DEA undercover
aircraft landed in Miami

and unloaded the biggest haul in
the history of drug enforcement.

"And," says Scott Miller,
"there were indications

of Bolivian government
involvement

even while the sting
was underway."

SCOTT: As soon as they found out
that Gutierrez was arrested,

there was a warning put out
in Bolivia to seize the plane.

That day, Mr. Suárez called us
and stated that he was calling

from the air force headquarters
in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

REPORTER: How could a civilian,
Roberto Suárez,

enlist the help
of the Bolivian air force

to try and retrieve a plane load
of his own cocaine?

It was the ultimate corruption.

We knew the Bolivian government
was a puppet government

for the cocaine dealers.

CHANTING

GARY:

ALEXANDER:
García Meza's own regime

started to come apart
at the seams.

He was trying, in a feeble way,
to disassociate himself

from the narco element
of his own regime.

Which is a fool's errand.

GARY:

GUILLERMO [IN SPANISH]:

PETER: This regime was able
to rely on a former n*zi

to help bring them to power.

What could Klaus Barbie provide
at that point?

He had strong influence.

But I don't think,
at that point,

he was useful anymore.

Previously, he got protection.

I think then he knew
that he was really in trouble.

GARY PRADO [IN SPANISH]:

CHRISTIAN: Did the CIA
help the dictatorship

to come to power,
as Michael Levine suspected?

A few years after the coup, a US
Senate committee was set up.

It investigated
whether there were links

between the CIA
and cocaine traffickers.

Jack Blum was the main
investigator of this committee,

which was led by John Kerry.

It is extremely difficult

to provide evidence
against the CIA.

But Blum interviewed
Leandro Sanchez-Reisse,

an Argentine
military intelligence officer.

His testimony is still
kept confidential today.

I concluded, after putting
the different pieces together

that what the man said
was true.

The story he told
was quite remarkable.

MAN: I think I owe it to you
to be fair...

JACK: Sanchez-Reisse said that
his job was to launder money

with the approval
and help from the CIA.

It was very clear that money
came from Roberto Suárez

and his drug-trafficking
organization,

that then provided funds
for weapons

that went down
to assist García Meza

become president of Bolivia.

And what we have here
is the story,

for the first time,

of how the so-called "Cocaine
Coup" in Bolivia happened.

I think it was testimony
that probably should be public,

and it was pretty
shocking business.

CHRISTIAN: It would be
the greatest possible breach

of taboo.

Not only to bring a military
regime into power

in a foreign country,

but to do so
with drug traffickers

who are ultimately responsible

for the cocaine problem
in the USA.

And this is a realization

that basically confirms
Michael Levine's gut feeling.

The CIA probably
supported the coup.

But did it also obstruct the
investigations against Suárez?

Blum says this is possible, but
there is no evidence of this.

The investigation of me
continued for years.

Just continued.

PHONE DIALS

MICHAEL: I was going to lose
my mind. I couldn't stand it.

I was in a box,
not even a cage.

And something starts
to short-circuit.

One of my bosses told me,

"Bureaucracy has a short memory.

Keep quiet, sit in the corner.
They'll forget about you."

And he was correct.
They weren't aware of me.

They didn't give a f*ck about me
one way or the other.

JOHN:

MICHAEL:

MICHAEL: So, an agent comes in.
He's looking for me.

And he said, "You want
to work undercover?"

I said, "I'll make a deal
with the devil.

Get me out of here. Wherever."

And I'm off onto other cases.
Dozens of them.

Life went on.

GARY:

MAN [ON TV]:

GARY:

You and me,
we can work this thing out.

We do business together
a long time.

Just remember,
I'll only tell you one time.

Don't f*ck me, Tony.

MEN LAUGH

sh**ting IN FILM

GARY:

GERMAN:

GERARDO:

CHRISTIAN:
Suárez had helped to establish

a brutal narco state.

He was also involved in the
founding of the Medellin Cartel.

But who knows
whether he anticipated

how big all this would get.

García Meza was then pushed out
by other military leaders,

and a return to democracy
seemed possible.

A democratically
re-elected president

was to return to power.

Altmann was still in La Paz.

But he apparently visited
Roberto Suárez one last time

in his hideout in the jungle.

GARY:

[IN SPANISH]

ALVARO:

CHRISTIAN: The new
government had a secret plan.

They wanted to use
Klaus Altmann's unpaid debts

as an excuse to arrest him.

BEATE [IN GERMAN]:

EDUARDO:

MAN [IN SPANISH]:

[IN SPANISH]

DARWIN:

MAN [IN SPANISH]:

[IN SPANISH]

GARY:

Klaus Barbie,

a former Gestapo chief
in Lyon, France,

who has now,
after all these years,

finally been extradited
from Bolivia to France

to stand trial for w*r crimes.

GARY:

MAN [IN SPANISH]:

KLAUS [IN SPANISH]:

BEATE:

GERARDO:

YELLS

MICHAEL: I think
most of the rest of my career,

they did pretty good
in just shutting me up

and backing me into a corner.

I survived.

I'm a survivor,
and I understood...

I'm not going to win here.

MICHAEL [ON TAPE]:
When a guy has that attitude,

"I'm not going
before a grand jury

unless I'm sure
I'm going to win,"

in a case involving
millions of dollars of cocaine,

to sit on my case that long
is beyond chance.

I was facing...

an enemy that kept changing
identities and faces,

coming at me
from different angles.

That's how I felt.

I was being attacked
from the shadows.

The State Department
and the CIA,

they have different agendas.

And I think, sometimes,

some of the people
that we were going after

may have impacted
on the agendas they had.

Things make you suspicious
of things.

So I can understand why Mike has
the feelings that he does.

RICHIE: I'd say I was probably

a little bit more diplomatic
than Mike.

There are higher priorities
for the United States

than a drug issue.

It took me longer to see it

because Mike was involved
with it a lot more than I was.

MICHAEL: My feelings
about the drug w*r?

That it's a total bullshit show.

It's not real.

It's made for people
with below-average IQ.

And the show is like a musical.

You change the name of the cast
as time goes on.

You come up with a new Dr. Evil,

and it's paraded
across the media

as a new drug w*r victory.

And that's enough.

SIRENS BLARE

NEWSREADER 1: America has
a cocaine problem.

An estimated 40 tons will be
shipped into America this year.

NEWSREADER 2: The w*r
for control of the streets

takes on greater fierceness.

NEWSREADER 1: Street sales
could run at $30 billion.

NEWSREADER 3: People have been
ex*cuted in broad daylight.

All the victims
and their K*llers are Colombian.

NEWSREADER 1:


NEWSREADER 3:
...shot to death in their cars

and m*rder*d in their homes.

MAN:
Heroin, we're winning the w*r.

In marijuana,
we're winning the w*r.

But in cocaine,
we're losing the w*r.

NEWSREADER 1: The w*r on cocaine
now looks like a real w*r.

ROBERTO [IN SPANISH]: