FBIS3-41158
"jptdd006__l94025"
JPRS-TDD-94-006-L
Document Type:JPRS
Document Title:Narcotics
7 February 1994
LATIN AMERICA
PERU
Army Chief: 30 Officers Faced Drug Charges in 1993
PY0402155994 Lima LA REPUBLICA in Spanish 27 Jan 94 p 3
PY0402155994
Lima LA REPUBLICA
Language: Spanish
Article Type:BFN
[Report by special correspondent Juan Zegarra Salas]
[Text] Huanuco, 26 Jan -- General Nicolas de Bari Hermoza
Rios, chairman of the Armed Forces Joint Command, yesterday
revealed that 30 military officers were charged in 1993 in
military courts for their involvement in drug trafficking. He
noted that stiff prison sentences have already been handed down
on 13 of these officers.
Gen. Hermoza made these remarks at a time when press reports
link trafficker Demetrio Chavez Penaherrera, aka Vaticano, with
senior Army officers assigned to the Huallaga Front.
Gen. Hermoza, who is also the Army commander, has flatly
denied these reports. He did not rule out, however, the
possibility that ongoing military court investigations may yield
some results.
He said: I can tell you that 13 officers who were convicted
for their ties with drug traffickers are currently serving stiff
prison sentences.
He added that charges have been filed against 17 other
officers for their involvement in the illegal drug trade. These
officers are standing trial and will soon be sentenced.
Regarding the responsibility of the Army and the other
services in these cases, Hermoza made it clear that these
isolated cases will in no way tarnish the image of the Armed
Forces because they uphold unshakeable patriotic principles.
He again contended that there are only isolated crimes
committed by military personnel and that these cases do not
undermine morale within the security forces.
Gen. Hermoza said this after a quick tour of Tarapoto, Tingo
Maria, and Huanuco, where the drug trade has expanded to every
sector.
Foreign and Peruvian journalists alike have repeatedly
reported that some Army officers are collecting bribes from
traffickers to allow them to ship their illegal merchandise.
General Alfredo Rodriguez Riveros, the new
political-military
chief of the Huallaga Front, has announced that a special
battalion led by Peruvian Army commander "Arturo" has been
created to fight the traffickers, "who are close allies of the
Shining Path."
Gen. Rodriguez added that the Army is currently using
electronic devices that are used in times of war to investigate,
identify, and rigorously and forcefully bring to trial--just as
it does with terrorists--any officers engaged in crime.
Gen. Rodriguez said the Army Inspector's Office is using
taped reports and all other evidence available in intelligence
work to identify those officers who may be involved in this
serious crime.
Gen. Hermoza noted that in the past there was only one
inspector handling this type of problem in the Huallaga Front.
Hermoza added: Today I have assigned four colonel-inspectors
with their respective aides to monitor the activities of
military personnel assigned to that zone.
Hermoza emphatically stated that military criminals will be
punished as severely as common criminals.
Hermoza also briefly commented on a document recently
published by LA REPUBLICA containing a message from Abimael
Guzman to his followers.
Gen. Hermoza ruled out the possibility that the Shining Path
will hold its Second National Congress.
Hermoza stated that when communists analyze both objective
and subjective conditions they will realize that they have no
chance of winning.
He added: Besides, they have already lost international
support and are lacking what they call "leadership" because
their leaders, who are imprisoned at the Callao Naval Base, now
have no control over their followers.
This is why, he said, through an adequate intelligence work,
our security forces have managed to arrest more terrorists.
He said the "Peace Accord" between the government and
Shining
Path is a political subject.
Hermoza added that a political war is now being waged. He
said every sector of national life is participating in this war,
which should be named "Pacification."
Hermoza reiterated that the Shining Path extremist
organization has absolutely no chance of carrying out an
activity like its Second National Congress.
Commenting on the presentation to the media of 18 "confirmed
terrorist criminals" at the Huanuco-based "Los Avelinos"
barracks, Hermoza emphasized that these criminals were unharmed,
that they do not have a single scratch.
Raising his voice, Hermoza rhetorically asked: Where are the
human rights organizations? Why have they not commented on the
number of skilled terrorist criminals who have been arrested in
the past two years without having suffered a single scratch?
This, he said, is one of the many indicators of the way
human
rights is being respected in the country.