01-11-2009, 10:04 PM
http://www.archive.org/stream/hashishsmu...t_djvu.txt
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the subcommittee, to the agents who participated in the Brotherhood of Eternal Love investigation, it was not just another routine case. For nearly a year and a half, we felt the pulse of what has come to be realized as one of the largest and most complex drug systems in the history of this country's narcotic law enforcement efforts.
Possibly you might ask: Are these notorious international traffickers from Italy. Mexico, or Turkey, or from the Golden Triansfle in Southeast Asia? No. gentlemen, the great majority of these violators are from California; but, our story does not beerin there. Although no one knew it at the time, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love began with Dr. Timothy Francis Leary at Harvard University in 1963. It was in 1963 that Dr. Leary was fired from his post at Harvard as a result of his experimentation with LSD. He soon found a friend in
multimillionaire "William Mellon Hitchcock, and was allowed to continue his experimentation with LSD from Hitchcock's 4,000-acre estate in Millbrook, a quiet community in Dutchess County, N.Y. From 1963 to 1966. Dr. Timothy Leary planted the seeds of "mysticism through drufifs" in the minds of countless thousands of young Americans. Even Dr. Leary never realized the fruitfulness of his crop or the international ramifications of its harvest.
From Millbrook, Dr. Leary traveled to Berkeley. Calif., and from Berkeley to a small city in southern California called Laguna Beach. This village-type community was soon to become the psychedelic drug capital of the world.
In October 1966, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love became a legal corporation in the State of California. The brotherhood was also granted a tax-exempt status on the basis that it claimed to be a religious organization. The brotherhood was heavily drug oriented. From its inception, in addition, intelligence indicates that the group was ceremoniouslv practicing group sexual freedom in connection with the use of drugs. From 1966 to 1968, the brotherhood flourished by dealing in marihuana smuggled in 100-pound lots from Mexico and by trafficking in LSD obtained from illicit sources and from Sandoz Chemical "Works in Basel, Switzerland.
Mr. Sourwine: Do you imply that the LSD obtained from the Basel firm was legally obtained ?
Mr. Sinclair: There was a time when lysergic acid diethylamide was available commercially. The first person to synthesis it worked for Sandoz and Sandoz actually manufactured it commercially.
Mr. SouRwinE. Thank you.
Mr. Sinclair. But, that was not enough; and in the latter part of 1967, Glenn Lynd and two other brotherhood members traveled to Afghanistan in search of a permanent source of supply for brotherhood hashish.
Mr. SouRwixE. That is Glenn Lynd, L-y-n-d ?
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
They purchased 125 pounds of high-quality Afghanistan hashish from their suppliers in Afghanistan for $15 a pound and smuggled it back into California where they sold it for $900 a pound. This was to be the first 125 pounds of nearly 24 tons of hashish smuggled into the United States from Afghanistan, Lebanon, and India by the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. In the summer of 1968, brotherhood members traveled to San Francisco in an attempt to secure a permanent source of supply for LSD — which they found. The LSD was to be called orange sunshine and the laboratory was to be set up in December 1968.
Mr. SouRwinE. May I interrupt for a moment, sir?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes. sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Here again, you used this 24-ton figure as though it
was the end of the Leary operation. Do you know that 24 tons or any
other amount is all thev were ever going to smuggle in ?
Mr. SincLAiR. No, sir.
Mr. SouRwinE. Have you put them out of the business ?
Mr. SincLAiR. No, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. So that is only what you know about that they have
done heretofore ?
Mr. SincLAiR. That is correct.
Mr. SouRwinE. Go ahead.
Mr. Strange. Two weeks affo there were 923 pounds of hash seized in New York and Las Vegas. That was a brotherhood shipment.
Mr. Sourwine. Where in Las Vegas ?
Mr. Strange. It came in from Amsterdam through Kennedy Airport to New York and from there to Las Vegas. It cleared U.S. customs in Las Vegas and it was seized on the outskirts of town, being transported from Las Vegas to southern California in a large Ryder truck.
Mr. SouRwinE. Came in through the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. All right go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. In March 1969, the first batch of "orange sunshine" LSD was made bv brotherhood members in a laboratory located outside of San Francisco. Slightly under 1 million tablets were produced in this first endeavor. Numerous millions were to be made in the next 4 years.
At this point in time, the Brotherhood of Eternal Ix>ve was the largest supplier of hashish and LSD in the United States.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Let us get the reference. That phrase "point of time" has meant a lot of things. You are talking about March 1969.
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
Mr. SouRWINE. Go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. The center of their operations was still Laguna Beach, Calif., although they were fast becoming international travelers and were purchasing property in Hawaii, Canada, Central America, and several States neighboring California. From 1966 to 1971, members of the brotherhood traveled throughout the world using false identities with passports obtained under assumed names. Their operations were virtually untouchable during this period of time.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Why was that ?
Mr. Sinclair. Because of their mobility, because no one was really aware of the extent of their activities.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Do they have any untouchability today ?
Mr. Sinclair. No, sir.
Mr. SoTJRwiNE. Their pretentions to be a religion do not do them any good any more, do they ?
Mr. Sinclair. No, sir.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. No arrests were made of major figures in the organization, and thousands of pounds of hashish and millions of dosage units of "orange sunshine" LSD were being distributed through outlets in southern California. Local authorities were aware of the brotherhood's existence but could not penetrate the organization's outer wall. The only significant accomplishment by local authorities during this period was the arrest of Dr. Timothy Leary on December 26, 1968, in Laguna Beach, Calif., for possession of marihuana. Dr. Leary was convicted in February of 1970 and sentenced to State prison for a termof 1 to 10 years. According to one of his companions, Leary escaped
from prison in September 1970 with the help of the Weathermen faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who also provided him with false papers and arranged for his flight abroad. According to several sources, the brotherhood paid $50,000 to the Weathermen to see their spiritual leader set free. While in Algiers and Switzerland. Leary, despite the fact that he
was in exile, still exercised a major influence over the brotherhood, and
was visited constantly by the higher echelon of the brotherhood organization.
In November of 1971, the brotherhood suffered its first rnaior setback when George Oliphant Avas arrested in Lebanon while in possession of 800 pounds of hashish. It was later determined that Oliphant and otlier members of the bi'otherhood had smuggled approximately 4,000 iKMinds of Lebanese hashish into the United States since 1968.
Mr. SoURWINE. Did they make almost $900 a pound on all of that?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes, sir. Oliphant is still in prison in Lebanon. On December 15, 1971, brotherhood member Donald Alexander Hambarian was arrested in Laguna Beach, Calif., while operating a hashish oil laboratory. This hashish oil was to be the first encountered in the United States. Hambarian was also in possession of 86,000 dosage units of LSD. Also in December of 1971, the two Afghan sources came to the United States accompanied by a brotherhood member, Robert Dale Ackerly, now serving: sentence. Their trip appeared to be nothing more than a sightseeing tour until it was learned that two shipments of hashish totaling over 2,000 pounds were on their way to southern California. The Afghans were overseeing these shipments.
In January of 1972, brotherhood member Michael Lee Pooiey was
arrested in Laguna Beach, Calif., while in possession of 133,000 dosage
units of "orange sunshine" LSD.
Mr. SouRwixE. What did that sell for ?
Mr. SincLAiR. Well, it depends again on supply and demand. You can sell tablets for as little as $1 apiece, or you can sell as many as 4,000 of them for $600. It just depends.
Mr. SincLAiR. Later that same month, the first of the Afghan hashish
shipments was seized in Portland, Oreg. This shipment totaled 1,330
pounds and still stands as the largest quantity of hashish ever seized in
the United States. In February of 1972, the second shipment of Afghanistan hashish was seized in Vancouver, British Columbia. This load totaled 729
pounds. According: to outstanding indictments, both the Portland and
the Vancouver shipments belonged to Brotherhood Chief Robert Lee
Andrist. At this time, intelligence revealed Andrist was in control of
the hashish smuggling arm of the brotherhood, while Michael Boyd
Randall was generally considered to be the head of the "orange sunshine" LSD operation. Both Andrist and Randall became fugitives subsequent to indictment in this matter.
In March of 1972, Gordon Fred Johnson was arrested in Laguna
Beach, Calif., for distributing approximately 50,000 dosage units of
"orange sunshine" LSD. Over $46,000 in cash was found in Johnson's
residence upon execution of a search warrant. Also in March, Eric Chastain was arrested in southern California for distributing 45,000
dosage units of "orange sunshine" LSD.
Mr. SouRwinE. Chastain is part of this Leary family, too ?
Mr. SincLAiR. He is part of the brotherhood ; yes, sir.
It became apparent that the mere seizures of hashish and LSD were
doing very little to disrupt the Brotherhood of Eternal Love as a major
drug system. As a result of this observation. Federal, State, and local
narcotic officers formed a strike force, with the brotherhood as their
sole target. ...
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the subcommittee, to the agents who participated in the Brotherhood of Eternal Love investigation, it was not just another routine case. For nearly a year and a half, we felt the pulse of what has come to be realized as one of the largest and most complex drug systems in the history of this country's narcotic law enforcement efforts.
Possibly you might ask: Are these notorious international traffickers from Italy. Mexico, or Turkey, or from the Golden Triansfle in Southeast Asia? No. gentlemen, the great majority of these violators are from California; but, our story does not beerin there. Although no one knew it at the time, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love began with Dr. Timothy Francis Leary at Harvard University in 1963. It was in 1963 that Dr. Leary was fired from his post at Harvard as a result of his experimentation with LSD. He soon found a friend in
multimillionaire "William Mellon Hitchcock, and was allowed to continue his experimentation with LSD from Hitchcock's 4,000-acre estate in Millbrook, a quiet community in Dutchess County, N.Y. From 1963 to 1966. Dr. Timothy Leary planted the seeds of "mysticism through drufifs" in the minds of countless thousands of young Americans. Even Dr. Leary never realized the fruitfulness of his crop or the international ramifications of its harvest.
From Millbrook, Dr. Leary traveled to Berkeley. Calif., and from Berkeley to a small city in southern California called Laguna Beach. This village-type community was soon to become the psychedelic drug capital of the world.
In October 1966, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love became a legal corporation in the State of California. The brotherhood was also granted a tax-exempt status on the basis that it claimed to be a religious organization. The brotherhood was heavily drug oriented. From its inception, in addition, intelligence indicates that the group was ceremoniouslv practicing group sexual freedom in connection with the use of drugs. From 1966 to 1968, the brotherhood flourished by dealing in marihuana smuggled in 100-pound lots from Mexico and by trafficking in LSD obtained from illicit sources and from Sandoz Chemical "Works in Basel, Switzerland.
Mr. Sourwine: Do you imply that the LSD obtained from the Basel firm was legally obtained ?
Mr. Sinclair: There was a time when lysergic acid diethylamide was available commercially. The first person to synthesis it worked for Sandoz and Sandoz actually manufactured it commercially.
Mr. SouRwinE. Thank you.
Mr. Sinclair. But, that was not enough; and in the latter part of 1967, Glenn Lynd and two other brotherhood members traveled to Afghanistan in search of a permanent source of supply for brotherhood hashish.
Mr. SouRwixE. That is Glenn Lynd, L-y-n-d ?
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
They purchased 125 pounds of high-quality Afghanistan hashish from their suppliers in Afghanistan for $15 a pound and smuggled it back into California where they sold it for $900 a pound. This was to be the first 125 pounds of nearly 24 tons of hashish smuggled into the United States from Afghanistan, Lebanon, and India by the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. In the summer of 1968, brotherhood members traveled to San Francisco in an attempt to secure a permanent source of supply for LSD — which they found. The LSD was to be called orange sunshine and the laboratory was to be set up in December 1968.
Mr. SouRwinE. May I interrupt for a moment, sir?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes. sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Here again, you used this 24-ton figure as though it
was the end of the Leary operation. Do you know that 24 tons or any
other amount is all thev were ever going to smuggle in ?
Mr. SincLAiR. No, sir.
Mr. SouRwinE. Have you put them out of the business ?
Mr. SincLAiR. No, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. So that is only what you know about that they have
done heretofore ?
Mr. SincLAiR. That is correct.
Mr. SouRwinE. Go ahead.
Mr. Strange. Two weeks affo there were 923 pounds of hash seized in New York and Las Vegas. That was a brotherhood shipment.
Mr. Sourwine. Where in Las Vegas ?
Mr. Strange. It came in from Amsterdam through Kennedy Airport to New York and from there to Las Vegas. It cleared U.S. customs in Las Vegas and it was seized on the outskirts of town, being transported from Las Vegas to southern California in a large Ryder truck.
Mr. SouRwinE. Came in through the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. All right go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. In March 1969, the first batch of "orange sunshine" LSD was made bv brotherhood members in a laboratory located outside of San Francisco. Slightly under 1 million tablets were produced in this first endeavor. Numerous millions were to be made in the next 4 years.
At this point in time, the Brotherhood of Eternal Ix>ve was the largest supplier of hashish and LSD in the United States.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Let us get the reference. That phrase "point of time" has meant a lot of things. You are talking about March 1969.
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
Mr. SouRWINE. Go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. The center of their operations was still Laguna Beach, Calif., although they were fast becoming international travelers and were purchasing property in Hawaii, Canada, Central America, and several States neighboring California. From 1966 to 1971, members of the brotherhood traveled throughout the world using false identities with passports obtained under assumed names. Their operations were virtually untouchable during this period of time.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Why was that ?
Mr. Sinclair. Because of their mobility, because no one was really aware of the extent of their activities.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Do they have any untouchability today ?
Mr. Sinclair. No, sir.
Mr. SoTJRwiNE. Their pretentions to be a religion do not do them any good any more, do they ?
Mr. Sinclair. No, sir.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. No arrests were made of major figures in the organization, and thousands of pounds of hashish and millions of dosage units of "orange sunshine" LSD were being distributed through outlets in southern California. Local authorities were aware of the brotherhood's existence but could not penetrate the organization's outer wall. The only significant accomplishment by local authorities during this period was the arrest of Dr. Timothy Leary on December 26, 1968, in Laguna Beach, Calif., for possession of marihuana. Dr. Leary was convicted in February of 1970 and sentenced to State prison for a termof 1 to 10 years. According to one of his companions, Leary escaped
from prison in September 1970 with the help of the Weathermen faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who also provided him with false papers and arranged for his flight abroad. According to several sources, the brotherhood paid $50,000 to the Weathermen to see their spiritual leader set free. While in Algiers and Switzerland. Leary, despite the fact that he
was in exile, still exercised a major influence over the brotherhood, and
was visited constantly by the higher echelon of the brotherhood organization.
In November of 1971, the brotherhood suffered its first rnaior setback when George Oliphant Avas arrested in Lebanon while in possession of 800 pounds of hashish. It was later determined that Oliphant and otlier members of the bi'otherhood had smuggled approximately 4,000 iKMinds of Lebanese hashish into the United States since 1968.
Mr. SoURWINE. Did they make almost $900 a pound on all of that?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes, sir. Oliphant is still in prison in Lebanon. On December 15, 1971, brotherhood member Donald Alexander Hambarian was arrested in Laguna Beach, Calif., while operating a hashish oil laboratory. This hashish oil was to be the first encountered in the United States. Hambarian was also in possession of 86,000 dosage units of LSD. Also in December of 1971, the two Afghan sources came to the United States accompanied by a brotherhood member, Robert Dale Ackerly, now serving: sentence. Their trip appeared to be nothing more than a sightseeing tour until it was learned that two shipments of hashish totaling over 2,000 pounds were on their way to southern California. The Afghans were overseeing these shipments.
In January of 1972, brotherhood member Michael Lee Pooiey was
arrested in Laguna Beach, Calif., while in possession of 133,000 dosage
units of "orange sunshine" LSD.
Mr. SouRwixE. What did that sell for ?
Mr. SincLAiR. Well, it depends again on supply and demand. You can sell tablets for as little as $1 apiece, or you can sell as many as 4,000 of them for $600. It just depends.
Mr. SincLAiR. Later that same month, the first of the Afghan hashish
shipments was seized in Portland, Oreg. This shipment totaled 1,330
pounds and still stands as the largest quantity of hashish ever seized in
the United States. In February of 1972, the second shipment of Afghanistan hashish was seized in Vancouver, British Columbia. This load totaled 729
pounds. According: to outstanding indictments, both the Portland and
the Vancouver shipments belonged to Brotherhood Chief Robert Lee
Andrist. At this time, intelligence revealed Andrist was in control of
the hashish smuggling arm of the brotherhood, while Michael Boyd
Randall was generally considered to be the head of the "orange sunshine" LSD operation. Both Andrist and Randall became fugitives subsequent to indictment in this matter.
In March of 1972, Gordon Fred Johnson was arrested in Laguna
Beach, Calif., for distributing approximately 50,000 dosage units of
"orange sunshine" LSD. Over $46,000 in cash was found in Johnson's
residence upon execution of a search warrant. Also in March, Eric Chastain was arrested in southern California for distributing 45,000
dosage units of "orange sunshine" LSD.
Mr. SouRwinE. Chastain is part of this Leary family, too ?
Mr. SincLAiR. He is part of the brotherhood ; yes, sir.
It became apparent that the mere seizures of hashish and LSD were
doing very little to disrupt the Brotherhood of Eternal Love as a major
drug system. As a result of this observation. Federal, State, and local
narcotic officers formed a strike force, with the brotherhood as their
sole target. ...
"History records that the Money Changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance." --James Madison