CIA Costa Rica Chief Reported Ousted Over Support of Contras

The CIA has suspended its station chief in Costa Rica after learning that he failed to fully disclose his participation in a secret network flying military supplies to Nicaraguan rebels, U.S. intelligence sources said Saturday.

The suspension of the station chief, who used the pseudonym Tomas Castillo, follows his recall earlier this month and two internal CIA investigations that cleared him of illegal actions.

The sources, insisting on anonymity, said Castillo was suspended within the last few days when CIA officials were notified, apparently by the FBI, that documents belonging to fired White House aide Oliver L. North showed Castillo had been more deeply involved in the aid resupply network than he had admitted.

Passed Along Messages

Earlier this month, Castillo was cleared by the internal investigations, which concluded he had passed along messages between North and the supply network on an occasional informal basis, the sources said.

But after the investigations were completed, evidence from North’s White House documents showed that North considered Castillo his “primary formal channel of communications” to the arms resupply operation, one source said.

Another source said Castillo was confronted with the new evidence last week and “admitted he had lied” about the extent of his participation in North’s activities.

Reports of the station chief’s activity suggest that during a two-year congressional ban on U.S. military aid to the contras , the CIA assisted North in managing an air resupply mission based at El Salvador’s Ilopango military airfield.

‘Tacit Approval’ Claimed

One source said Castillo claimed he had the “tacit approval” of Clair George, the CIA’s deputy director for clandestine activities, in acting as a channel for North’s messages to the aid network.

CIA spokesmen were not immediately available for comment, but they have repeatedly denied that the spy agency violated the ban.

Under the suspension, Castillo will continue to be paid but will be given no assignments and could face disciplinary action once the new evidence is evaluated, one source said.