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This FBI file concerns the U.S. criminal investigation of Panamanian ruler Manuel Antonio Noriega for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering. The released records show that in July and August 1987 the FBI, DEA, Department of Justice, U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida met to assess whether a prosecutable case could be developed against Noriega. The visible records include Tampa and Washington Field Office teletypes, task force material, deleted-page sheets, and a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing transcript from February 1988 on drugs, law enforcement, foreign policy, and Panama. The file also reflects concern that press reporting about the investigation could impede work in Panama, affect witnesses and fugitives, and complicate access to people believed to have knowledge of Noriega's activities.

FBI file number: 245-465 | Documents span: 1987-1988 | Released in 5 parts
Names in this file: Manuel Antonio Noriega, Jose Blandon, Floyd Carlton, John F. Kerry, Alfonse D'Amato, Robert Morgenthau, Oliver North
Subjects: Panama, drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime, Senate hearings, FOIA