Noriega Units Escorted Cash, Witness Says

A Panamanian businessman, claiming he once laundered $20 million a week in drug profits, testified Wednesday that military officers commanded by Manuel A. Noriega routinely protected his cash shipments.

The witness, Eric Guerra, told jurors at Noriega’s racketeering and drug-smuggling trial that members of Panama’s elite G-2 military intelligence unit in the early 1980s provided armored cars and immigration clearances when drug couriers arrived at Panama City’s airport on commercial and private flights.

Guerra said he ran a money-exchange business that handled $500,000 to $800,000 each day for Colombia’s notorious Medellin drug cartel. In addition, a private Lear jet would arrive once a week ferrying $10 million to $15 million, he said.

“The cash from Colombia and Miami would come in suitcases, all tidied up and tied with rubber bands,” he said. “If it was $20 bills, each bundle would be $20,000. If hundreds, it would be $100,000.”

On several occasions, the money arrived in a private jet that the government has identified as Noriega’s personal plane, Guerra testified.

Defense attorney Frank Rubino, in cross-examining Guerra, elicited a statement that money-laundering was not a crime in Panama in the 1980s. He asked Guerra whether G-2 officers escorted him to Panamanian banks--including the scandal-plagued Bank of Credit & Commerce International--”so that you wouldn’t get robbed?”

“Yes, it was to protect the money,” the witness said.