2 IN CONGRESS SEE LAPSE IN SECURIYT IN U.S. RADIO LINKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810023-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: November 19, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
A Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810023-9
ARTICLE APPPWRP NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE --fi.l._ 19 November 1985
STAT
g
month were sophisticated radio equip-
With secret American radio frequen-
ment and a 62-page list of transmission
cies possibly in the hands of M-19, Mr.
frequencies used by several hundred
English said, "this raises some very
local, state and Federal agencies, busi-
serious security questions about what
nesses and private organizations.
their next move might be in the United
Many Agencies Involved
Among the frequencies were those
used by the rug Enforcement Adiriin-
is ra ion Customs erviceCoa t
Guard, Central Intelligence Agency.
Defense Investigative Service. Secret
Service and a variety of Army and Air
Force installations
Most of the frequencies can be ob-
tained from public sources, but dozens
of them cannot, including the frequen-
cies Secret Service officers use for
communicating with each other while
protecting the President. The frequen-
cies, some of which are changed occa-
sionally, were current at the time of the
seizure.
2 IN CONGRESS SEE
LAPSE IN SECURITY
IN U.S. RADIO LINKS
By JOEL BRINKLEY
Special to The New York Timed
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - Drug
smugglers had a list of a wide range of
sensitive Government radio frequen-
cies, including those used by military
aircraft, domestic law-enforcement
agencies and Air Force One, according
to documents released today by two
members of Congress.
Officials say they do not know why
drug traffickers would want all the fre-
quencies, where or when they got them
or which frequencies, if any, they
might have listened in on.
Terrorist Link Is Feared
But Representative Glenn English,
Democrat of Oklahoma, and Senator
Dennis DeConcini, Democrat of Ari-
zona, said they feared the traffickers
may have wanted to monitor the fre-
quencies to help in possible terrorist
activities. The two released the list at a
news conference today, with the fre-
quencies deleted.
Seized in a Florida drug raid last
Many Use Open Lines
Most of the agencies transmit over
open, unscrambled lines most or all of
the time, officials said.
A Secret Service official said, "We
didn't know these frequencies were out
like that, but we are aware that when
we speak on the radio, it is possible that
someone could be monitoring us, so we
are cautious about what we discuss."
The official, who spoke on condition
he not be identified, said Secret Service
officers sometimes use transmitters
that include scramblers of low sophisti-
cation. But other Federal officials said
using the scramblers reduces the
transmission range, so in many cases
they cannot be used.
The list was found when Florida law
officers raided a warehouse in Brow-
and County, just north of Miami, on
Sept. 13. They also found machine
guns, other weapons, a variety of news-
paper clippings and unclassified docu-
ments describing Federal drug en-
forcement equipment and capabilities,
and maps and other documents detail-
ing recent drug smuggling operations.
No one was arrested in the raid, and no
unscramblers were seized.
Mr. English and Mr. Deconcini said
they learned that the traffickers who
used. the warehouse had connections
with the M-19 terrorist group in Colom-
bia, which has long been suspected of
involvement in drug trafficking.
Citing American intelligence sources
whom- they did not name, the two said
they also learned that M-19 guerrillas
had pp the ones of thgi
ices o o ombia s Supreme Court be-
fore e group raided the Palace of .,
tice in Bogota this month.
"are not going to make us change any-
thing right now."
The list includes the frequency used
for telephone communications with the
President's limousine, which officials
have said are scrambled. But com-
munications from Air Force One, also
on the list, have not been scrambled.
This fall, civilian radio operators
monitored a conversation between Mr.
Reagan in Air Force One and Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger in his
own plane as the two discussed the
planned interception of an Egyptian
plane carrying the hijackers of the
cruise ship Achille Lauro.
The Customs Service has spent $18
million since 1982 enhancing communi-
cation security, said Dennis Murphy, a
spokesman. "Communications is an
area where not all the remedies are in
place yet," he added. "But we know
where the problems are, and we are
working on them."
As part of a new em to hinder
Soviet spying in ue United States, Mr.
Reagan approved a plan recently en-
ce significantly
iT ~~secun orma on. in their
iet-
ter, r. !~_Nlisli and Mr. DeConcini
urged Reagan to rod en t ef-
fort.
I
people,incTdiing 11 justices, were
killed when Colombian Government
forces raided the palace to rout the
uerrillas two weeks ago.
States."
Mr. DeConcini said: "This not only
affects drug trafficking but the se-
curity of our nation's leaders. We have
to assume that the M-19 has this infor-
mation because they want to use it."
Some Messages Are Scrambled
In a letter to President Reagan to-
day, urging him to enhance communi-
cation security, the two asserted that
they had "indisputable evidence" that
"criminals actively monitor" numer-
ous secret frequencies.
The Secret Service official said the
agency "wants to get more into this
area" of securing radio communica-
tions, but "with budget constraints and
other problems," the new disclosures
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810023-9