Cuba Accuses Donald Nixon of Drug Ties : Interview: Ex-President’s nephew says authorities believe he was involved with Vesco in money laundering.

Donald Nixon, nephew of the late President Richard Nixon, told ABC News on Sunday that Cuban officials are detaining him because they believe he is involved with fugitive financier Robert L. Vesco in the international drug trade.

Officials “told me that I was money laundering, that I was in the international drug trade, and that I was a member of the CIA,” Nixon, 49, said, apparently speaking from Vesco’s home in Cuba, where Nixon is believed to be under house arrest.

Nixon, a Tustin resident, said he was at Vesco’s home May 31 when 18 Cuban government agents arrived in six cars to arrest the financier. Vesco fled the United States in the early 1970s after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged that he diverted more than $220 million from four mutual funds.

“As I came downstairs, they took Vesco away,” Nixon said in the interview with ABC News. “I haven’t seen him since. That was three weeks ago.”

Cuban officials arrested Vesco on suspicion of being a foreign agent.

Despite speculation that Vesco would be returned to the United States to face fraud charges and an indictment for an illegal $200,000 contribution to President Nixon’s 1972 reelection campaign, Cuban President Fidel Castro said he would not comply with an extradition request because it would make Vesco a political pawn. Vesco also faces drug conspiracy charges stemming from a 1989 indictment in Jacksonville, Fla.

Donald Nixon’s friendship with Vesco dates to the early 1970s, when Nixon served as his aide. When Vesco fled to Costa Rica in 1972, Nixon reportedly followed. Nixon’s wife, Helene, and two sons live an apartment complex in Tustin. Neighbors say they see Nixon there only occasionally.

“I know he left for a business trip in February,” said a neighbor who requested anonymity. “I don’t know what business he is in, but I wish him well.”

Nixon and Vesco were the subject of a 1975 federal grand jury investigation in Detroit into heroin smuggling. A former pilot for Vesco who was subpoenaed during the investigation said at the time he did not have any reason to believe Nixon had smuggled narcotics. The results of that investigation are not known.

Nixon told ABC News that he came to Cuba seeking Vesco’s help to manufacture an anti-AIDS drug that has not been approved in the United States. They started a venture known as the Tx project with partners in Colombia, Mexico, Switzerland and Italy, he said.

“I came down. He introduced me to a couple of vice ministers,” Nixon said. “I had no control or knowledge of the monies. That was all handled by Mr. Vesco.”

Nixon’s wife has urged the State Department, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), and Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole from Kansas to intervene. A spokesperson for the State Department said Sunday, “Mr. Nixon has not waived his right to privacy so we cannot discuss the matter.”

Nixon’s attorney, Ernest F. Ching Jr. of Tustin, said “the family remains hopeful and prayerful about his return.”