Manuel Noriega Extradited to France After 20 Years in the U.S

Miami, Florida - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is on his way to France from the U.S. to face charges in that country of money laundering. The U.S. forcibly removed Noriega from power after the invasion of Panama in 1989. Noriega was detained in the U.S. where the government charged him in 1992 with drug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering. Noriega completed his prison sentence in Florida in 2007 where he has been embroiled in a legal battle for the past two and a half years regarding his future. Prosecutors in France sought to have Noriega extradited to face charges of using the French banking system to launder drug money back in the 80's.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed Noriega's extradition orders and he was placed on a plane en route to France from the United States on Monday. Noriega's attorneys were fighting for him to be allowed to return to Panama and it looks like they will have to take up their fight in France at this point.

Manuel Noriega was actually a long-standing intelligence asset for the CIA and had worked with the agency for many years prior to his capture. It is widely believed that Noriega was funneling money to the Contras in Nicaragua for the U.S. to fund their battle against the leftist Sandinista government in power there.

Many will recall the Iran-Contra scandal involving Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in the late 1980's where he was called to testify before Congress in televised hearings about the scandal. The Iran-Contra scandal involved covert arms sales to Iran with the profits from the sales being funneled to the Contras in Nicaragua. While Oliver North was indicted on sixteen felony counts associated with the scandal, he was only convicted of three and those were eventually overturned in an appeals court with help from the ACLU. All charges against Oliver North were subsequently dropped on September 16, 1991 after the Supreme Court declined to review the case.

After 20 years in a U.S. prison, Noriega is on an Air France jet this evening on his way to face his next round of legal challenges.

Sources:

CNN
Time Magazine
Washington Post