Ex-Aide Admits Giving Noriega Drug Money

A top co-defendant in the Manuel A. Noriega case today pleaded guilty to giving drug payoffs directly to the deposed Panamanian leader.

Luis del Cid, a former lieutenant colonel under Noriega, entered his plea this morning before U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler, capping almost a year of plea negotiations with the government.

“Yes, I transported the money, but, well, I am repentant of having done so,” Del Cid told the judge. “What I was doing was following orders of a superior officer.”

Del Cid acknowledged making at least three separate cash transactions for Noriega. He admitted the government’s contention that he gave Noriega $100,000 in cash from drug pilot Floyd Carlton Caceres in November, 1982. He also delivered an envelope with $150,000 cash from Carlton and later picked up a suitcase stuffed with cash--all of which was delivered to Noriega.

Del Cid was an aide to Noriega at the time of their capture after the U.S. invasion in 1989. Prosecutors have charged that he acted as a liaison and money courier between drug traffickers and Noriega.