458. Telegram From the Embassy in Pakistan to the Department of State1
9565. Subject: Operation Sandeman. Ref: State 248368.2
1. (S) Entire text.
2. [less than 1 line not declassified] managed to acquire the names of the individuals involved on [less than 1 line not declassified] and on the morning of Sept 20 I phoned Gen Arif (Pres Zia’s top staff officer) explaining I had to have a private appointment with Zia before my departure.
3. I met Zia at 8:00 pm on Sept 20 (only he and I were present) and delivered the demarche as instructed in reftel with two changes: (A) because of new information developed by [less than 1 line not declassified] I made the first para read quote we have reliable reports that a member of your party, Capt Qamar, has made specific plans to smuggle about ten kg. of heroin into the U.S. in your personal aircraft during your upcoming visit to the United States. The heroin may be secreted inside several marble or onyx lamps, or may be in his personal kit. We believe he has been promised 300,000 rupees for arranging this smuggling, and the organizers, with whom Capt Qamar has been meeting, are Pakistani suppliers and smugglers named [less than 1 line not declassified] of Kharian village [less than 1 line not declassified] unquote, and (B) I added that we are holding the matter very closely both here and in Washington.
4. Zia reacted positively and strongly, saying he would immediately institute an investigation. He then said that perhaps in any case it would be a good idea for him to ask U.S. officials to search the aircraft on arrival in New York so as to be completely sure no narcotics were aboard. I repeated the point in my instructions that it would be highly advisable to apprehend the individuals without alerting them prematurely so as to bring them to justice through criminal prosecution, and thus settle the matter here in Pakistan. Zia repeated that if the USG still has any suspicions at the time the plane arrives, he would [Page 1047] immediately authorize a search. He said that while he realized that a search might lead to publicity that it would be better to avoid, he wanted it to be clear that he had made the offer.
5. He repeated that he would put investigators on the case immediately. When he mentioned the Pak Narcotics Control Board (PNCB) in passing I told him that PNCB so far as we knew had no knowledge of the case, and that he should decide how best to handle the investigation so as to assure that the culprits are punished. He wrote down the names of the persons involved and asked why, if the sellers are known traffickers, they had not been prosecuted.
6. Zia closed the 15-min conversation by thanking me for bringing the information to him and assuring me he would act effectively on it, and would keep DCM King informed.
7. Comment: [less than 1 line not declassified] here have been effective and cooperative. The language in para 3–B was developed with their assistance and concurrence. We will transmit further [less than 1 line not declassified] on this case through this channel.
8. FYI It would be noted that contrary to early info the lamps were not intended as official gifts but were to be on the plane ostensibly as a private set of gifts from [less than 1 line not declassified] to friends in the U.S. However, [less than 1 line not declassified] is now having second thoughts about taking so many lamps and is considering putting some, or most, of the heroin in his personal baggage.
9. [less than 1 line not declassified] will be in Washington on evening of Sept 24 and will be handcarrying copy of this message and full report on this case.
10. Please convey to [less than 1 line not declassified] my appreciation (and presumably that of the Dept) for the professionalism and cooperativeness of my [less than 1 line not declassified] here, who uncovered the situation in the first place, handled it discreetly, and developed further essential information that could be passed to the GOP.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P870097–0324. Secret; Immediate; Nodis.↩
- In telegram 248368 to Islamabad, September 18, the Department instructed Hummel to inform Zia before his departure for the United States that a “member of your party, whose identity is not known to us, plans to smuggle ten kilograms of heroin into the U.S. in your personal plane during your upcoming visit to New York. The heroin is allegedly to be secreted inside several marble or onyx lamps which will be taken with you as gifts.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P870097–0327)↩