Theft of $99,950 at DEA Suspected as Probe Widens

Federal prosecutors investigating a growing drug corruption scandal are probing the suspected theft of almost $100,000 in cash from the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, The Times has learned.

The cash disappeared from the office between July 10 and July 24, 1984, just three months before the suspected theft of 2 1/2 pounds of Asian heroin from the drug agency’s evidence vault, according to federal sources.

While the suspected theft of the $99,950 is being investigated as part of a corruption probe focused on three former DEA agents, sources close to the investigation said Tuesday that none of the ex-agents have been linked to the disappearance of the money.

The suspected theft was first disclosed by Donald E. Hugh, a former DEA agent and assistant evidence custodian at the agency’s Los Angeles office during the mid-1980s.

John Zienter, head of the Los Angeles office since 1987, confirmed that the money had vanished from a safe and said prosecutors are investigating it as a possible theft in connection with the ongoing probe.

Three former DEA agents, John Anthony Jackson, Darnell Garcia and Wayne Countryman, were indicted Dec. 7 on tax charges in connection with an alleged conspiracy to launder more than $600,000 through Swiss banks.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce Karlin has said that additional charges of cocaine trafficking may be filed in the case. Sources have also said that Karlin and Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Byrne are considering filing charges of theft of government property against Jackson and possibly Garcia in connection with suspected heroin thefts.

Civilian Clerk Suspended

According to sources, the money disappeared from either a cashier’s safe or a money vault in 1984 after being checked in by an agent described as “above suspicion.” When it was discovered missing, a DEA investigation resulted only in a 30-day suspension of a civilian clerk.

“There was some disciplinary action taken at the time for administrative discrepancies,” Zienter said. “The circumstances are being looked at now in connection with the ongoing investigation of these agents. We are trying to evaluate if there are any links.”

In disclosing the disappearance of the cash, Hugh, who retired from the DEA last year, blamed the agency for lax procedures in the handling of both drugs and money during most of the 1980s.

“The evidence vault was like a meeting place for agents,” he said. “There used to be three and four guys in there at a time, milling around. It was hard to keep track of them. They didn’t change things until fairly recently.”

Defending the DEA’s current evidence-control guidelines, Zienter said the present security surrounding the handling of both drugs and money is extremely tight and has been in place for at least two years. Agents are not permitted in the evidence vault at all, he said.

Other Suspected Thefts

The confirmation of the suspected theft of cash follows the disclosure last week of two suspected drug thefts in which a total of more than 5 pounds of heroin, with a street value of $7.5 million, allegedly disappeared from DEA custody.

The first disappearance allegedly took place between Oct. 2 and Oct. 9, 1984, when 2 1/2 pounds of heroin disappeared from the DEA evidence vault. Jackson had checked the heroin in and also reported it missing, according to sources.

Jackson, sources said, was also involved in another investigation four months later in which heroin allegedly disappeared. In that case, sources said, agents paid for 15 pounds of heroin from two Thai drug dealers, but only 12 pounds were turned in as evidence.

‘Purely Circumstantial’

Defense lawyers for Jackson and the other ex-agents have denounced the reports of missing heroin as prejudicial to their clients’ chances of obtaining a fair trial on the tax charges they currently face, dismissing the allegations as “purely circumstantial.”

They also have accused the government of leaking a “barrage of negative publicity” about the former agents.

Neither of the suspected heroin thefts or the missing cash was previously disclosed by the DEA until Los Angeles drug agents told The Times of the mysterious disappearances. Zienter and other federal officials said Tuesday that no other suspected thefts are currently being investigated.

“That’s all we are looking at right now,” Zienter said. “But we are looking into a lot of cases in connection with this investigation. We don’t know what we may find.”

Federal Custody

Jackson, 39, of Claremont, is being held in federal custody without bail as a flight risk and potential danger to witnesses in the case. Countryman, 45, of Walnut is free on $120,000 bail. Garcia, 42, has been a fugitive since eluding surveillance agents Nov. 22, just eight hours before plans to arrest him.

United Press International reported that a lawyer representing Garcia filed suit in Los Angeles federal court Tuesday to block the Internal Revenue Service from seizing $1.2 million in assets for unpaid income taxes and penalties and interest.

Garcia, whose assets include a $581,000 house in Rancho Palos Verdes paid for in cash, is identified in IRS documents included in the lawsuit as being a member of a cocaine ring that sold “at least 150 kilograms of cocaine” in 1985, producing gross earnings of $3.4 million.