2 SENATORS CLAIM CIA KNEW OF MENGELE DRUG LINKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200032-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: February 27, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/28: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200032-8
ARTICLE LPPEAFZ1
024 PLGE______
2 senators
claim CIA
knew of
Mengele
drug
WASHINGTON TIMES
27 February 1985
By Dave Doubrava
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The CIA and other government
agencies have known for at least a
decade that accused Nazi war
criminal Dr. Josef Mengele has been
"heavily involved" in international
drug trafficking, two U.S. senators
said yesterday.
Based on declassified CIA doc-
uments, the two also charged that
Mengele, while living in Paraguay
under the protection of the govern-
ment there, traveled freely
throughout South America, never
trying to hide his name or identity.
Sen. Arlen Specter and Sen.
Alfonse D'Amato also charged that
the U.S. government has been neg-
ligent in not pursuing Mengele for
his alleged war crimes and drug
involvement, saying the United
States apparently "didn't give a
damn.11
Sen. Specter, R-Pa., said be
believed the lack of American action
showed the government "wanted to
sweep [Mengele] under the rug" and
said the government's "acts of omis-
sion" in pursuing Mengele "consti-
tute protection."
The senators also said that two
drug traffickers associated with
Mengele, identified only as
"Becker" and "Morelli," were
arrested in New York City in 1979,
placed under $5 million and $10 mil-
lion bonds, but then "walked out of
prison" and disappeared because of
"a paperwork slip up."
Sen. D'Amato, R-N.Y., said
recently released documents indi-
cated that "Becker" and Mengele
jointly owned a farm in Paraguay
that served as the base of an interna-
tional drug ring.
In addition, the two senators
charged that U.S. government agen-
cies may be withholding information
which could further the investigatin
into Mengele's current whereabouts
and possibly lead to his arrest.
They said the seven CIA doc-
uments released yesterday were
`overly sanitized" to delete ref-
erences to "Becker's" and Mengele's
alleged drug connections.
The declassified government doc-
uments a>so include an unverified
report that Mengele's roommate in
1968 in Paraguay was Martin Bor-
mann, Hitler's designated successor.
Borman is thought to have died
in 1945 in Berlin, but there have been
recurring reports over the last four
decades that he may have escaped to
South America.
During World War II, Mengele
was chief doctor at the Auschwitz
death factory in Poland where more
than 1 million Jews were killed as
part of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solu-
tion."
The Justice Department last
month announced it was conducting
an intensive search to find Mengele
and the U.S. Army is investigating
reports that it may have had Men-
gele in custody shortly after the war.
Kathy Pherson, a CIA
spokeswoman, said her group had
turned the information over to differ-
ent government agencies, including
the State and Defense departments,
when it was "appropriate"
The heavily censored documents I
also include a report that Mengele,
73, had undergone plastic surgery to
make himself appear much younger.
The government papers say Men-
gele has used a number of false
names, including "Dr. Henrique
Wollman" This is Mengele's last
known alias. It was used in 1972 in
Encarnacion, Paraguay, where he
practiced medicine.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/28: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200032-8