(Houston Chronicle) A ranking California congressman contends two Houston-area pilots arrested in Panama were unknowingly snared in a botched money-laundering operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which did nothing to stop the innocent Americans from going to prison.
But sources told the Houston Chronicle on Saturday it was not a DEA case and the claims are rooted in a fast-talking occasional DEA informant, who was a passenger on the private jet and tried to squirm out of getting busted with $2.3 million in dirty money last May.
“He just got caught,” said a source familiar with events. “It appears it was an informant who was doing it without the knowledge of the DEA. They do that all the time. They play both sides (of the law).”
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday to say he’d received “quite unsettling” information about a DEA money-laundering operation that landed the pilots in prison.
It was the latest in a string of accusations against federal law enforcement by Issa, who has been vociferously critical of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and its bungled undercover gun-running operation known as “Fast and Furious.” ATF allowed people suspected of being low-level smugglers to buy and transport guns across the border in hopes of finding higher-level operatives, but it lost track of hundreds of weapons. Two were found in Arizona, where an American Border Patrol agent was shot to death
But DEA Spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said Saturday the incident in Panama was not a DEA matter.
“The investigation, in fact, was initiated and conducted unilaterally by the Panamanian government,” she said. “DEA became aware of the incident only after being contacted by the Panamanian officials for assistance.”
The pilots, Kenneth Chonoski and Carl Moody, were imprisoned in Panama and conditionally released a few months ago. But their passports have been seized and they are not allowed to leave the country.
The two men were flying a Learjet 55 from Honduras and made a stop in Panama with their passengers, a Colombian and two Hondurans. The three passengers are in prison, pending the prosecution’s outcome.
“We continue to make every effort to get our pilots back to the U.S. safely and expeditiously,” said Bruce Hicks, a spokesman for American Jet International, which is based at Hobby airport and employs the pilots.
Strong statement
Issa could not be reached for comment Saturday, but his two-page letter to Holder makes bold contentions. He states that while the plane was on the ground before flying to another country, Panama officials were tipped that several million dollars were in the luggage of one of the passengers.
That passenger turned out to be a prominent longtime client of the Houston-based jet company and also a DEA informant, the letter states. He told Panamanian authorities they could not touch the money because it belonged to the U.S. government.
The congressman’s letter delves into detail, saying the informant, who is not named, had a phone number for a senior DEA agent in the United States, and that three DEA agents came to the plane while it was on the ground and did nothing to help the pilots.
He also said the senior agent was aware of what was going on, and remains involved in the case.
“The agent has been in constant communication with an executive of the charter-plane corporation,” the letter continues. “Instead of even attempting to assist the innocent pilots, however, the DEA agent has only been interested in extracting additional information about the corporation’s long-time prominent Latin American client, believed to be a DEA confidential informant.”
Testimony expected
Panamanian prosecutor Ida Mirones has previously told the Chronicle that the customs officials were told the plane would be arriving with drug cash. She said a passenger tried to evade inspectors by saying the bags with money belonged to the U.S. government.
Issa’s push to know more about DEA’s international anti-money-laundering efforts, and what happened in Panama, come as Holder is expected to give congressional testimony this week.
The pilots remain on their company’s payroll, are living in condominiums, and have been reunited in Panama with their families.
Panama released the aircraft they were flying, which seats seven and is outfitted with surround sound and flat-screen televisions, and cruises at more than 500 mph.