Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Ex-Drug Pilot Tells of Flights to Panama

A former pilot for Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar told a jury in Miami that he flew illicit shipments of cocaine at Escobar’s direction from Colombia to Panama under the presumed protection of former dictator Manuel A. Noriega. David Ortiz, 35, said at the former Panamanian strongman’s drug-smuggling trial in Miami that he never met Noriega. But his testimony for the prosecution was intended to corroborate that of Floyd Carlton-Caceres, who testified that he made secret payoffs to Noriega about the time he was flying with Ortiz. Ortiz, who has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to smuggle drugs, confirmed that the flights he made with Carlton occurred in November, 1982, and about February, 1983.