Former Bush Goodfella To Leave Prison

MIAMI - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, imprisoned on international drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges since 1990, will be released from prison on Sept. 9 - thanks to good behavior and other credits.

Noriega, who was toppled by a massive U.S. invasion in late 1989, was automatically eligible for parole after serving about two-thirds of his 30-year federal sentence.

U.S. authorities have no desire to keep him here after he's released, but when Noriega, 72, steps out of his apartment-like cell at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Southwest Miami-Dade County, he probably won't end up a free man. Both Panama and France want him on criminal charges.

Noriega was once considered one of the United States' closest allies in Central America. A former head of Panama's intelligence service, he was a paid informant for the Central Intelligence Agency before becoming the head of Panama's national guard, which he renamed the Panamanian Defense Force in 1983.

--- As early as 1972, reports of Noriega's drug trafficking irked the DEA, and the State Department complained of his dealings with other intelligence services, notably those of Israel and Cuba. Don't worry, said the CIA-he's our boy. In 1976, Noriega paid a visit to CIA Director George Bush in Washington. Bush's successor was less comfortable with Noriega and took him off the CIA payroll, but when Bush became vice-president in 1980, Noriega went back on, with a six-figure annual salary.

--- --- Hmmm. "Noriega used the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) as a means to launder his wealth. His personal banker, Amjad Awan, was a senior manager at BCCI, and then moved on to setup his own securities trading firm. Ultimately, BCCI's collapse was in part because of Noriega's laundering activities."

For those too young to remember BCCI was aka the Bank of Crooks & Criminals International.

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in Pakistan in 1972. At its peak, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and claimed assets of $25 billion.

BCCI became the focus in 1991 of the world's worst financial scandal ... found by regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom to be involved in money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies, the commission and facilitation of tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, and the illicit purchases of banks and real estate.

Noriega was so active in banking he contributed to the collapse of BCCI. Where did all that laundry go?

Drugs, guns, human smuggling/trafficking, nuke tech sales, terrorism - it's enough to make any billionaire shy away from past connections to Panama.