Lebanese Drug Dealers Paid, Free American

A former drug dealer from America was freed unharmed by Lebanese drug traffickers after his family reportedly paid a $400,000 ransom to end his 11-month captivity.

“I was treated fairly. It was psychologically draining being held for a long period of time,” the former captive, Steven John Donahue, told the Associated Press today in a telephone interview from the U.S. Embassy in suburban Beirut.

Donahue, 32, who was released Tuesday and taken to the Embassy, insisted he was “sent here by the Drug Enforcement Administration on a large-scale project.” He did not elaborate on his alleged mission.

Different Story

Agency spokesman Cornelius Dougherty said today that Donahue was not working for the agency. Asked whether Donahue was an informant, Dougherty declined comment.

In an interview today, Donahue told ABC News that he was released because “money exchanged hands, about $400,000.” ABC said the $400,000 was paid by Donahue’s family.

Donahue told ABC: “I was held for economic reasons basically, not political, and the big danger for me was that they were going to turn me over to a political group.”

Arrested in N.J.

His wife, Johanna, has said Donahue agreed to work as an informant after his 1982 arrest in Newark, N.J., on charges that he smuggled hashish from Lebanon.

Gail Nichols, an assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said Donahue pleaded guilty on April 7, 1983, to one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. A clerk at the U.S. District Court in Newark said that on Jan. 27, 1983, Donahue pleaded innocent to three drug charges.

Lebanese officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Donahue was kidnaped by Shia Muslim drug dealers “for poking his nose into the business.”