Full text of "Hashish smuggling and passport fraud : ''the brotherhood of eternal love'' : hearing before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, first session, October 3, 1973
HASHISH SMUGGLING AND PASSPORT
FRAUD:
"The Brotherhood of Eternal Love"
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE
ADMINISTEATION OF THE INTERNAL SECURITY
ACT AND OTHER INTERNAL SECURITY LAWS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE
NINETY-THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
OCTOBER 3, 1973
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
DOCS
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
23-638 WASHINGTON : 1973
(searcfl
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For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
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ibrary J franklin pierce law center
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ON DEPOSIT JAN 4- 1974
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HASHISH SMUGGLING AND PASSPORT
FRAUD:
"The Brotherhood of Eternal Love"
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE
ADMINISTKATION OF THE INTERNAL SECURITY
ACT AND OTHER INTERNAL SECURITY LAWS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE
NINETY-THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
OCTOBER 3, 1973
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
2»-638 WASHINGTON : 1973
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing OfBce
Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.15
rch
ry FRANKLIN PIERCE LAW CENTER
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Concord TSIpw Hamnchifa 02Jnl
Boston PubUc Library
Boston, lyiA 02116
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JAMES O. EASTLAND, Mississippi, Chairman
JOHN L. McCLELLAN, Arkansas ROMAN L. HRUSKA, Nebraska
SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., North Carolina HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii
PHILIP A. HART, Michigan HUGH SCOTT, Pennsylvania
EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts STROM THURMOND, South Carolina
BIRCH BAYH. Indiana MARLOW W. COOK, Kentucky
QUENTIN N. BURDICK. North Dakota CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, Jr., Maryland
ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia EDWARD J. QURNEY, Florida
JOHN V. TDNNEY, California
Subcommittee To Investigate the Administration of the Intebnal
Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws
JAMES O. EASTLAND, Mississippi, Chairman
JOHN L. McCLELLAN, Arkansas STROM THURMOND. South Carolina
SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., North Carolina MARLOW W. COOK, Kentucky
BIRCH BAYH, Indiana EDWARD J. GURNEY. Florida
J. Q. SouRWiNB, Chief Counsel
Raymond Sifly, Jr., Minority Counsel
John R. Norpel, Director of Research
Alfonso L. Tarabochia, Chief Investigator
Resolution
Resolved, by the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate
Committee on the Judiciary, that the testimony of John R. Bartels, Jr.,
Gene R. Haislip, Lloyd Sinclear, and Ernest Donald Strange, all of
the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the testimony of Miss
Frances G. Knight, AVilliam E. Duggan, and John O'DoAvd, all of the
Passport Office, Department of State, taken in executive session on
October 3, 1973, be released from the injunction of secrecy, be printed
and made public.
James O. Eastland, Chairman.
Approved December 10, 1973.
CONTENTS
^ , Page
^^ John^R. Bartels, Jr., Acting Administrator, Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration _
Lloyd Sinclair, group supervisor, DEA_ '
Ernest Donald Strange, special agent, DEA »
Gene R. Haislip, Counsel, DEA ^'^
Afternoon Session
Testimony of — „ , -^ _ --v ^ * *
Miss' Frances G. Knight, Director, Passport Office, Department of
QiX- ^ OiJ
William" E.' Duggan,' Chief,' Legal Division, Passport Office 43
John O'Dowd, attorney-adviser. Legal Division, Passport Office o^
Appendix
(III)
HASHISH SMUGGLING AND PASSPORT FRAUD
"The Brotherhood of Eternal Love"
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1973
U.S. Senate,
SuBCX)MMi'rrEE To Investigate the
Administration of the Internal Security Act
AND Other Internal Security Laws
OF THE Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington^ D.C.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 :30 o'clock a.m., in
room 1318, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator James O. East-
land, presiding.
Also present : J. G. Sourwine, chief counsel ; David Martm, senior
analvst: Ravmond Siflv, minority counsel; John R. Norpel, Jr., re-
search director; and Alfonso Tarabochia, chief investigator.
The Chairman. The purpose of this hearing is to look into the re-
lated problems of international drug trafficking and passport fraud—
both of which have a direct bearing on the internal security of our
country. .
It is my understanding that the testimony this mornms: will focus
primarily, but not exclusively, on the activities of the Brotherhood
of Eternal Love, an organization founded by Dr. Timothy Leary
which has combined a mystical fanaticism with criminal activities,
and which has been massively involved in passport fraud and in the
production, smuggling, and distribution of various drugs, LSD, and
hashish in particular.
The Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security held extensive hear-
ings last September and October. 1972, on the international drug
traffic and its impact on U.S. security. The subcommittee appointed
Gen. Lewis W. Walt, retired assistant commandant of the Marine
Corps, to head up a staff investigation. General Walt's investigation
covered some 20 countries, and the report which he made to the sub-
committee, I think it is fair to say, played a major role in bringing
about certain structural improvernents in our national drug control
machinery, and his recommendations are closely reflected in some of
the legislation now pending before Congress.
Our hearings last vear focused primarily on the heroin epidemic,
although General Walt's report did deal briefly with the interrelated
problems of cocaine, hashish, and marihuana. We also took the testi-
monv of Dr. Olav Braenden. the distinarished Director of the U.N.
Narcotics Laboratory in Geneva, on the current status of cannabis
research.
(1)
In today's hearing we shall be dealing with the past activities of
Timothy t^ary's associates as the prime international manufacturers
and distributors of LSD, and with the role his organization, the
Brotherhood of Eternal Love, has played in the rapidly expanding
problems of hashish smuggling into the United States.
I anticipate that this hearing will provide us with some useful
information on the relationship between the increasingly widespread
use of hashish and the extensive use of marihuana--which is really
a weaker version of hashish — before the current hashish epidemic got
underway.
In addition to establishing the basic facts about the rapidly mush-
rooming problem of passport fraud, it is my hope that this hearing
will also i^roduce certain concrete recommendations pointing to im-
provements in passport security.
The witnesses we have with us today are divided into two groups.
From the Department of Justice, we have : John R. Bartels, Acting
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration ; Gene R. Haislip,
counsel. Drug Enforcement Administration; Lloyd Sinclair, group
supervisor, Drug Enforcement Administration; and Ernest Donald
Strange, special agent. Drug Enforcement Administration.
From the Passport Office of the Department of State, we have :
Frances G. Knight, Director, Passport Office, Department of State;
William E. Duggan, Legal Counsel. Passport Office (in charge of
investigation of passport fraud by brotherhood members) ; and John
O'Dowd, Attorney-Advisor, Legal Division, Passport Office.
I want to thank the witnesses for coming.
In order to expedite the hearing, I would like to ask that you all
rise and be sworn in simultaneously.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give the
subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God ?
Mr. Bartels. I do.
Mr. Haislip. I do.
Mr. SixcLAiR. I do,
Mr. Straxge. I do.
Miss Knight. I do.
Mr. Duggan. I do.
Mr. O'Dowd. I do.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Mr. Chairman, we will begin, if it is agreeable with
you, with the testimony of Mr. John R. Bartels, Jr., the Acting Ad-
ministrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Depart-
ment of Justice.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN R. BARTELS, JR., ACTING ADMINISTRATOR,
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, ACCOMPANIED BY
GENE R. HAISLIP, COUNSEL, DEA; LLOYD SINCLAIR, GROUP
SUPERVISOR, DEA; AND ERNEST DONALD STRANGE, SPECIAL
AGENT, DEA
Mr. Bartels. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of
the subcommittee.
I am pleased to appear before you this morning in connection with
this subcommittee's continuing investigation into the illicit drug traf-
lie. In addition to other matters, you have asked that we inform you
of the particulai-s of our investigation of a drug-oriented cult known
as the Brotherhood of Eternal Love.
This is one of the most fascinating investigations of recent years,
and I have brought with me today for the pur^wse of recounting it,
two of the officers who were responsible for its success. These are the
gentlemen on my left, Mr. Lloyd Sinclair, presently a group super-
visor in our Los Angeles Eegional Office; and next to him. Mr. Donald
Strange, one of the resourceful agents who worked under Mr. Sin-
clair's direction. I would also like at this time to recognize Special
Agents Terry Burke, Douglas Kuehl, Gary Elliot, Donald Monier,
and William"^ McKelvey, who also played an important role in this
investigation, although they could not be with us today.
To avoid any subsequent confusion of terminolog}-, let me explain
from the outset that these gentlemen were at the time of this investi-
gation serving within the former BNDD. This agency has since been
merged with other units to form the new Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration, or DEA, which I now head ; and this more current means of
identifying the Federal Government's enforcement arm will be used
hereafter.
Before Mr. Sinclair begins his narrative, I would like first to deal
with some of the broader implications of the case about which you
have also asked to hear. In many ways, the evolution of the drug
trafficking activities of the members of the Brotherhood of Eternal
Love is a tragic illustration of the cynicism into which the youthful
drug revolution of the mid-1960's has fallen. It also underlines the
development of new trends in the drug traffic of which the Nation
np^ds to be aware.
The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was founded on the basis of
Timothy I^ary's exhortations to "Tune in, turn on. and drop out"'
with LSD. Leary's preaching consisted of a combination of mysticism,
the use of dnigs, and the disapproval of our society expressed in the
phrases of rebellion which particularly appeal to youth. The novelty
of his doctrine and the growing drug rebellion in general, drew con-
siderable attention from the press, which merely extended the num-
bers of young people exposed to the message. Many thousands of
teenagers reacted to it with an idealistic and religious fer^'or.
Mr. SouRwixE. May I interrupt, sir ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Is that perhaps a very conservative estimate? Do
you think it would be an exaggeration to suggest that at the height of
his influence Leary may have had as many as a million of our young
people paying attention to his rantings in one way or another?
Mr. Bartels. Xo ; I think that is quite right. That is quite possible.
Mr. SouRwixE. Go ahead, sir.
Mr. Bartels. Soon, California became the mecca for the new
"counter-culture;'' and in October 1966, Leary, with many of his
youthful followers, established the Brotherhood of Eternal Love as
a tax-exempt religious corporation under the laws of that State. Al-
though many thousands of young drug abusers were in the Berkeley
area at this time, the brotherhood was an exclusive organization to
which not all were admitted. High echelon brotherhood members were
already engaged in the manufacture and distribution of LSD, al-
though consideration of profits was probably a secondary motive in
the beginning. In time, the drug activities of the brotherhood ex-
panded and evolved new patterns of illicit traffic. By the time that
our investigation reached its peak in the spring of 1973, no less than
750 of its members had been positively identified as participants in
criminal activities that spanned the globe.
Mr. SouRwixE. Do you have a figure or a good estimate as to just
how many active members of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love there
were at the peak ?
Mr. Bartels. If I may, I would refer you to Mr. Sinclair but I
believe it is around 3.000 or so.
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Go ahead, sir.
Mr. Bartels. During the late 1960's when the abuse of LSD began
to peak, brotherhood leaders undertook the development of an en-
tirely new trade in hashish. This is one of the stronger forms of
marihuana — normally about 10 times more potent than that smuggled
into the country from Mexico for the manufacture of the typical
marihuana cigarette. Earlier, in the debate on the legalization of
marihuana. Federal drug enforcement authorities warned that the
marihuana question could not be considered from the standpoint of
only the milder forms of the drug then predominating the traffic. They
predicted that a brisk trade in hashish was bound to develop from
the increased demands for cannabis products. The activities of the
brotherhood were, in large part, responsible for proving the accuracy
of this prediction. In 1968, shortly after it was founded. Federal au-
thorities seized no more than 534 pounds of hashish. By 1972, this
had increased to a figure of 30,094 pounds.
Mr. SouRwixE. Can I ask a question here ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. SoLTiwiXE. Do you think that was because you were getting a
higher proportion of the total traffic or was the traffic increasing in
the same or greater proportion to your seizures?
Mr. Bartels. I think the traffic was increasing in greater proportion
rather than
Mr. SouRW^XE. It was outrunning your enforcement efforts.
Mr. Bartels. That is right. I would like to think that we were seiz-
ing more but I think a more realistic appraisal is that that traffic was
growing tremendously.
Mr. SouRWixE. Go ahead. Go ahead, sir.
Mr. Bartels. At some point late in 1967 or early 1968. members of
the brotherhood developed their most important foreign contact for
hashish. According to subsequent indictment, this was the Tokhi
brothers who reside in Afghanistan on the outskirts of Kabul, its
capital city. Brotherhood smugglers developed elaborate and success-
ful means of getting the hashish into the Ignited States. One of their
earlier techniques was to hide quantities of 15 to 20 pounds of the drug
within the interiors of fiberglass surfboards which they manufactured.
This was soon considered too small a quantity, however, and they grad-
uated to specially designed traps in Volkswagen campers or other ve-
hicles which could hold up to 1,300 pounds in a single shipment.
Their mode of operation placed heavy reliance on the use of false
passports; and with their financial resources and false documents, they
achieved complete international mobility. Dunno: the period of their
successes, we have estimated on the basis of hard intelligence that
approximately 24 tons of hashish Avas smiiofjrled into this country.
Although most of this drug came from their dealings withm Af-
trhanistan. we also know that shipments were brought m from both
Lebanon and India.
Mr. SouRwiXE. Do vou mean that statement to be exclusive, that
is, that the only places it came from were Afghanistan, Lebanon and
others or were there other minor sources ? i • i i
;Mr. Bartels. There may have been other sources of which we have
no knowledge.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Thank vou.
Mr. Bartels. Moreover, the brotherhood was not content merely
to smuggle and market hashish. Under the guidance of one of its chief
chemists, the brotherhood developed the manufacture of an even more
potent product called marihuana or hashish oil. In the course of our
investigation, six such hashish oil laboratories were seized.
Mr. Sourwixe. Is that the same commodity that is sometimes re-
ferred to on the street as pot oil ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes. sir.
The marihuana product resulting from their operation m some
cases may have achieved a THC content of up to 90 percent.
Mr. SouRwixE. "Was that
Mr. Bartels. Tetrahydrocannabinol. That is the percent of the
active product within marihuana which gives the— —
Mr. SouRWixE. That is the hallucinitory drug is it not ?
Mr. Bartels. That is right, and in normal marihuana it would run
2 to 3 to 5 percent. . . ,
Mr. Soi-RwixE. Ninety percent purity is extremely high, is it not (
Mr. Bartels. That is right.
Mr. SouRwixE. As an oil, vou cannot get it much higher, can you i
Mr. Bartels. I do not believe so. We have never seen it any higher.
A typical laboratorv such as that seized at Escanaba. Mich., could
produce approximatelV 21/2 quarts of hashish oil per day. Normally,
a single drop placed within a regular cigarette would constitute one
dose, and approximately 15,000 doses could be derived in this way
from 1 quart. • -r. 1 ■, nnn
Marihuana— or hashish— oil was first encountered in February 1972.
Since then the number of exhibits received has increased and so has
the potencv as measured bv the i>ercentage of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) present. During fiscal year 1973, 49.3 pounds of the drug were
seized with an average THC content of 46 percent. This is a highly
potent and concentrated hallucinogenic substance which can be manu-
factured with relatively simple equipment. As such, it must be regard-
ed as a novel and threatening shift in marihuana abuse which should
give those who advocate its legalization cause to re-think their posi-
tion.
In the meantime, they continued their manufacture and distribution
of LSD under the trade name of "Orange Sunshine." Until the recent
enforcement successes, this product, which has now disappeared en-
tirelv. was found in quantitv all over the world.
The first concentrated effort to eliminate this clandestine LSD op-
eration resulted in the seizure of a mobile laboratory facility concealed
6
inside a truck in Denver in 1967 and the arrest of Xicholas Sand.
Reportedly, this was the most productive LSD laboratory in the west-
em United States. Unfortunately, the arrest was found to have been
legally inadequate; and therefore, the case against Sand had to be
dropped. Under the exclusionary rule of evidence, the seized labora-
tory equipment could not be placed in evidence and, in fact, was re-
turned to Sand.
Almost 6 years later, some of the same laboratory equipment, still
bearing the evidential labels applied by Federal agents, was again
seized when Sand's laboratory was discovered by St. Louis police in
a warehouse which had been leased for the manufacture of LSD. Sand
had moved to St. Louis because of the mounting police pressure being
brought to bear on the brotherhood in California at that time.
There are several lessons to be gained from this investigation, and
I should like to mention them briefly, although not necessarily in
order of importance.
First, this case has taught us the necessity of being flexible in our
enforcement strategy and mode of operation. For many years, the
concept of organized crime in drugs has always meant the Mafia, or
the Cosa Nostra, or the Union Corse — traditional and reasonably well
identified criminal groups with specific ethnic connotations. The
Brotherhood of Eternal Love represents one of the new recently-
emerged forms of organized crime totally different from our past
notions in terms of membership, motivations, lifestyles, and drugs of
preference.
Mr. SouRwiNE. You mentioned the Mafia, the Cosa Nostra and
Union Corse. Is one of those the same as the Unione Siciliano ?
Mr. Bartels. I do not know. I get frankly confused, Mr. Chairman,
over the extent to which the Siciliano group form in with the Mafia
or Italian organized crime. They overlap and the history of it
Mr. SouRwiNE. It is our understanding — I would like to be cor-
rected if this is wrong so that the record would so reflect— tliat the
Mafia or Cosa Nostra which are interchangeable names is controlled,
supposedly, at least by the Unione Siciliano or the Union Corse is a
Corsican branch or similar Corsican organization which is smaller
and some people say tougher.
Mr. Bartels. That is right. I think there are changes now within
organized crime from the total control that the Sicilian group had in
its origins in Italy and Sicily as opposed to the people who have now
taken over some of these families and have been born in the United
States.
Mr. Sourwine. Go ahead, sir.
Mr, Bartels. Increasingly, this new form of organized drug traf-
ficking activity is assuming a greater role in the enforcement problems
we face. In the end, we see that the misguided idealism on which the
brotherhood was first conceived finally ijave way to the usual criminal
motivations of big money for little labor. And, although their drug
activity centered at first around LSD, they later branched out to in-
clude hashish and finally cocaine. In its last hour of activity, the
hard narcotics were finally seized upon as offering the biggest profit
for the least effort.
Mr. Sourwine. Pardon me for continually interrupting. I want to
make these points as they occur. You say "in its last hour of activity".
You mean this entire Leary family group is out of business now?
Mr. Bartels. I will let Mr. Sinclair comment on that. I think sub-
stantially it is out of business, is that not correct ?
Mr. Sot-RwixE. It is good news if it is true. We did not think that
was tiiie.
Mr. Sinclair. Severely crippled.
Mr. SouRwixE. Go ahead, sir.
Mr. Bartels. A second aspect with important lessons for our tactical
approach to the drug traffic is the rapidity with which the brother-
hood became an international operation capable of tapping and devel-
oping illicit drug supplies in a country as remote as Afghanistan. The
ease with which false passports may be obtained coupled with the great
cash resources which the group possessed and the availability of mod-
ern jet travel made it not only possible, but likely, that the effort would
be made.
For the last several veai-s. we have concentrated developing our
attack on the illicit drug traffic at its traditional foreign sources in
Turkey, in France, and in Mexico. The events in Southeast Asia
demonstrated the potential dangers from that particular area ; and the
investigation of the brotherhood activities proves no drug producing
area, however remote, can be ignored in our international effort. What
the brotherhood was able to accomplish in Afghanistan with regard
to hashish could as easily be accomplished with regard to opium and
heroin.
Without the assistance which our foreign offices can offer, and with-
out a mobility and flexibility on our part at least equal to that of crimi-
nal organizations, we could not even learn of the criminal activities of
such groups much less successfully cope with them. In the instant c_ase,
our agent in Kabul plaved a major role in coordinating the investiga-
tion with the California-based task force. Our offices around the world
must be able to develop and exchange intelligence information rapidly
so as to identify violatoi-s and make them targets of police activity. Our
agents must further have the capability of using this information and
moving rapidly throughout the world to put it to use. For example, in
pursuit of the brotherhood investigation, DEA agents traveled to
Paris, Kabul, Costa Rica, Mexico City, Belgium, and Honduras as
well as traveling extensivelv within the United States.
One of the particulars inVhich DEA will differ from its predecessor
agencies is in the increased emphasis which we intend to place on
the development of intelligence as the second operational arm of our
enforcement efforts.
Mr. SouRWixE. One more interruption, if I may. This mobility
and ability to act is going to require agreements for cooperation with
a great many other governments, is it not ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, it will.
Mr. SouRWTXE. The work of negotiating those agreements is under-
way now?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, it is.
Mr. SouR^vixE. That is really another subject. I do not want to
push you into it but I thought we needed some mention of it here.
Mr' Bartels. I think vou are 100 percent right. We now will have
65 foreign offices in 49 countries which is a tremendous growth rate
over the past several years.
8
Mr. SouRWiNE. I also had one other question at this point. You
mentioned the ease with which false passports may be secured. You
are referring to U.S. passports?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. SouR\viNE. When you say false passports, do you mean out-
right forgeries or do you mean actual passports which are obtained
by persons under false names or through false pretenses?
Mr. Bartels. The latter.
Mr. SouRWTNE. Wlien you say false passports you do not mean
forgeries. You mean U.S. passports issued to people other than those
they purport to cover.
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir. That is what
Mr. SoTJRWiNE. Or obtained by an actual person through false
pretenses.
Mr. Bartels. Yes.
Mr. SoTjRWiNE. Go ahead.
Mr. Bartels. Finally, this case illustrates the inadequacies of exist-
ing criminal justice procedures in coping with contemporary high-level
drug violators. Of the top 12 organizers of the brotherhood's activities,
six continue to be fugitives from justice living on their ill-gotten wealth
in foreign countries where additional enterprises can be planned. Worst
of all, two of these were successfully arrested but were able to post
bonds, whereupon they promptly fled the jurisdiction. Another brother-
hood member was rearrested on three subsequent occasions and finally
fled after forfeiting bonds totaling $125,000.
In the more limited case of heroin trafficking, we have asked the Con-
gress to consider imposition of new restraints on the granting of bail.
We recognize the caution which must be exercised to safeguard con-
stitutional rights, but we have offered new formulas for pretrial deten-
tion which we feel strike a balance between the necessitv to protect the
public and the rights of accused persons. This law was introduced by
the chairman of this subcommittee and other distinguished members
of the Judiciary Committee, and we recommend it as an appropriate
starting point from which to consider the problem.
I would like to turn now to Mr. Llovd Sinclair who will provide you
with an account of the particulars of this investigation. I hope that you
will keep in mind throughout his account, that the successes he de-
scribes were not those of DEA alone, but were the results of the efforts
of many State and local officers and Federal agencies, particularly
the Department of State, which cooperated in numerous false pass-
port investigations of brotherhood members. We shall then be pleased
to respond to whatever questions you may have. Special Agent Donald
Strange will also assist in answering any detailed questions concem-
inar the conduct of the investigation.
Mr. Sourwine. Sir, before Mr. Sinclair begins his statement, I have
a number of questions I want to ask. I have no reason to insist that
you answer them, but may I ask you while you are here?
Mr. Bartels. Certainly.
Mr. Sourwine. If you want to field them, do so; and if you want to
pass them to one of your experts, do so.
Wien you speak of the Department of State cooperatinsr in nu-
merous false passport investigations, what division or branch of the
State Department were vou referring to? Do you mean the Passport
Office?
Mr. Sinclair. Security,
Mr. SouRwiXE. You mean the Bureau of Security?
Mr. Sinclair. Xo, no. Within the Department of State.
Mr. Sourwine. The Office of Security?
Mr. Sinclair. Ri^ht.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Within the Department of State.
Mr. Sinclair. Yes.
Mr. SouRwiNE. l^Hio heads that ?
Mr. Sinclair. I do not know.
Mr. Strange. ]\f r. Hibbard Lamkin was the special agent in charge
in Los Angeles, whom we worked through initially. He has since re-
tired.
]Mr. SouRwiNE. You are talking about cooperation at the local level
rather than at the Washington level.
Mr. Strange. Yes, sir, but at one point in time we called direct to
the State Department in Washington when we had reason to believe
that one of the brotherhood members was using a fraudulent pass-
port.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Who did you talk with there ?
Mr. Strange. I do not recall. It was primarily another agent's re-
sponsibility. He maintained liaison with a member of the State De-
partment in Washington. He spoke with him almost on a day-to-day
basis.
Mr. SouRwiNE, Over quite a period of time ?
Mr, Strange, Yes. sir,
Mr, SoTJRwiNE, Did you get the information you were telephoning
for over a period of time ?
Mr, Strange, Yes, sir. When documents that were obtained in either
a search or through informant information gave us the idea that pos-
sibly one of these brotherhood members was using an assumed name,
we would run that name through the passport section and see if they
had an application on file for the member under that name, and quite
often they did,
Mr, SouRwiNE, Now, it may be that I am here anticipating some-
thing that one of your men plans to cover, and if so. I have no objec-
tion to deferring the question. But let us run through these and then
go ahead with the director's statement,
Dr, Leary had a rather openhanded acceptance by the media or cer-
tain areas of our media of public information, did he not?
Mr, Barteis, Yes, he did,
Mr, SouRwiNE. I remember two major interviews with I^ary in
Playboy magazine, for instance. Was this access to the press and to a
somewhat lesser but still substantial degree the airwaves, of any
substantial or even critical importance in enabling Leary to increase
his influence ?
Mr, Bartels, In my opinion, it was, and I would ask Mr, Sinclair
if he would not confirm that,
Mr, Sinclair, Yes. absolutely,
INIr, SouRwiNE, Was Leary himself ever arrested for trafficking in
drugs ?
10
ISIr. Bartels. Yes, he was.
Do you know his record ? I know he was in Texas once.
Mr. Sinclair. Yes, that was Customs.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Do you plan to cover that ?
Mr. Sinclair. Not the Texas incident, but we do plan to cover an-
other aspects of his
Mr. SouR\vaNE. Would it be out of order to tell us about the Texas
incident now ?
Mr. Sinclair. I am not specifically familiar with it. I recall he
crossed the border at Texas, I believe, with his daughter, and they
were arrested at that time.
Mr. SouRwiNE. When — may I ask you cover the Texas incident fully
when you correct the record either at this point or any other place
you think it will fit best.
Mr. Sinclair. We would be happy to.
[The material referred to follows :]
Dr. Timothy Leary was arrested by a U.S. Customs oflBcial in possession of a
small quantity of marihuana at Laredo, Tex., on December 22, 1965. The facts
of the case are as follows :
Dr. Timothy Leary left New York on December 20, 1965, by automobile,
accompanied by his two children, Susan, age 18, and John, age 16, and two
other persons. Their destination was Yucatan, Mexico, and the alleged purpose
of the trip was a Christmas vacation for the Leary children and to provide
Dr. Leary the opportunity to write a book and to prepare for a summer
session to be conducted with a research group at his home in Millbrook, New
York. On December 22, 1965, Dr. Leary and the four passengers drove across the
international boundary at Laredo, Texas, into the Republic of Mexico, stopped
at the Mexican immigration station for several minutes, and turned back
toward the United States. At approximately 6:45 p.m., they arrived at the
secondary inspection area. Laredo International Bridge. Laredo. Texas. Dr. I^ary,
the driver of the vehicle, told a U.S. Customs oflScial that they had driven across
the boundary into Mexico within the prior hour, that they had been unable to
secure tourist permits and had b^en told by Mexican immigration officials to
return the following morning at 8:00 am. at which time the necessary Mexican
permits would be given to them.
The U.S. inspector asked the group if they had anvthing to declare from
Mexico and was told that they had not. After the occupants alighted from the
vehicle, the U.S. inspector observed some vegetable material and a seed on the
floor of the automobile which appeared to him to be marihuana. Thus the five
travelers were arrested. A search of the baggage, the vehicle and of the individ-
uals was made. Sweepings from the car floor and glove compartment were later
proved to be marihuana. While Dr. Leary was being searched, he stated that he
had never used marihuana. A woman Customs inspector performed a personal
search of the two female travelers, which resulted in the finding of a small
metal container on the person of Susan T>eary after she had disrobed. Within
the container were three partially smoked marihuana cig.irettes, a small quantity
of serai-refined marihuana and capsules of detroamphetamine .sulfate. Demand
was made of Dr. Leary for the required Treasury Department transferee form.
He stated that he had no such form. Susan Leary. in response to the same
demand, refused to make any .statement. Dr. Leary admitted to a U.S. Customs
Agent that the metal box taken from his daughter. Susan, containing the mari-
huana was his property.
Dr. Timothy Leary and his minor daughter were jointly indicted on three
pounts pertainine to marihuana. Dr. Leary was tried before a jury on Maroh 11.
1969. Count 1. which charged the smucrgliuET of marihuana into the United States
which should have been invoiced (declared), was dismissed by the court.
Dr. Learv was found guilty, however, on Count 2. which charged transj>ortation.
and facilitation of transportation, and concealment of marihuana after im-
portation, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 176a, and on Count 3, which charged trans-
portation and concealment of marihuana bv defendants as transferees, required
to pay the transfer tax in ^^olation of 26 U.S.C. 4744 (a) (2). Dr. Ijearv w.is
sentenced to the maximum penalties and fines provided for such offenses, subject
11
however, to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 4208(b), and was ordered committed to
the medical center at Springfield. Missouri, for a complete study to be used bv
the court as a basis for determining the ultimate sentence in the case.
Susan Leary was tried at the same time as her father. Dr. Leary, by the
court without a jury (trial by jury having been waivetl) and found guilty on
Count .3 of the indictment but not guilty on Counts 1 and 2. Imposition of
sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation during the remainder
of her minoritv. without supervision, under the provisions of the Youth Corrup-
tions Act. 18 U.S.C. 5010 (a).
Dr. Leary appealed his conviction on Counts 2 and 3 to the Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit which aflSrmed the lower courts findings.
Dr. Leary then jietitioned to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court agreed
to con.sider two questions: (1) whether petitioner's conviction for failing to
comply with the tran.sfer provisions of the Marihuana Tax Act violated his
Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination; (2) whether petitioner
was denied due process by the application of the part of 21 U.S.C. 176a which
provides that a defendant's possession of marihuana shall be deemed suflicient
evidence that the marihuana was illegally imported or brought into the United
States, and that the defendant knew of the illegal importation or bring in,
unless the defendant explains his possession to the satisfaction of the jury.
On May 19, 1969. the Supreme Court held in favor of the petitioner (Dr.
Leary) on both issues and reversed the judgement of the Court of Appeals.
Mr. SorRWiXE. Would voii say it is true the role T^earv played was
that of an ideological trafficker, whether or not he was himself selling
thestuif?
Mr. Bartels. Definitely.
Mr. SixcLAiR. Absolutely.
Mr. SouRAvixE. He was responsible for hooking more young people,
if I mav use that term, than a g-ood many pushers.
Mr. Bartels. That is my opinion.
Mr. Soi'RwixE. Because of his acceptance and the access he had
through the media to the minds of these voung folks.
Mr. Bartels. Developing the subculture which advocated the use
of drugs.
Mr. SouRwixE. Now, you gave us some figures about seizures. I do
not remember precisely. What was the figure for hashish seizures in
1968 ?
Mr. Bartels. 534 pounds.
Mr. SouRwixE. And in 1972 ?
Mr. Bartels. 30,094 pounds.
Mr. SouRwixE. Did you have any one big or possibly lucky seizure
in 1972 that would increase that figure, or is that the result of a steady
year-by-year progression ?
Mr. Bartels. It is larsfely a steady year-by-year progression. We
had one seizure which I believe was 1.300 pounds which was the
largest in the historv. I mav add that we had a seizure 2 weeks asfo of
almost 900 ]
Ounds. But that shows what an extremely large seizure
would be.
Mr. SorRwixE. But your 1.300 pound seizure was not any bigger part
of the 30.000 poimds seized in 1972 than vour largest seizure was of the
534 pounds in 1968.
Mr. Bartels. That is cori-ect. For instance, the figures, if I may,
.show this sort of a progression. In 1968. as I stated, there were 534
pounds. In 1969, 2,247 pounds. In 1970, 7,256 pounds. In 1971, 22,188
pounds. And as I said, in 1972, 30,094 pounds.
Mr. SouRwixE. What is vour total so far this vear ?
Mr. B.-vrtels. Through June, from January of 1973 through June 30,
1973, we have 11,150 pounds of hashish.
12
Mr. SouRwiNE. You are behind the 1972 rate, then.
Mr. Bartels. Yes, we are slightly.
Mr. SouRwixE. Is that because the traffic has dropped off or because
you have been denied the force you need or for what reason ?
Mr. Bartels. I am not sure really at this early date. We may make
it up. It may be also that there is a feeling among the youth to turn
to other drugs. I think it is a little early to say.
Mr. SouRw^ixE. Can you give us any reasonable estimate of the
amount of hashish that has been entering this country undetected?
Obviously, you would not have a statistic on it but do you have esti-
mates on it ?
Mr. Bartels. No. Nothing really reliable.
Mr. SomwixE. You told me that in your opinion, the traffic had
gone up faster than your seizures had gone up, so you must have some
kind of an estimate. Do you have an estimate of total traffic year by
year ?
Mr. Bartels. We do not because we do not know how efficient we
are in making seizures, whether we are seizing 10 percent, 5 percent,
20 percent, 25 percent. But we know that at the borders the nature
of this traffic is such and the borders are so open and wide that we
are not seizing what we would hope to, and a great deal comes in. If
we are seizina; 20 percent of it perhaps we are doing pretty well. And,
of course, it is more difficult once you get into hashish oil which does
not involve as cumbersome a shinment as marihuana.
Mr. SouRwixE. Would you have any instrument of the confirmed
hashish imports of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love which eluded
detection of Customs and other law enforcement agencies ?
Mr. Bartels. Let me refer to Mr. Sinclair on that. I think we said
24 tons, did we not ?
Mr. Haislip. Yes. That is a total, and all of that is based on what we
would call hard intelligence from identifiable sources. And this is due
just to the activities of the brotherhood.
Mr. SouRwixE, They brought in 24 tons in your opinion, over what
period of years ?
Mr. Haislip. 1968 to the present.
Mr. SixclAir. During that time we seized approximately 6,000
pounds so that means approximately 44,000.
Mr. SouRwixE. Well, you must have seized — you mean from them.
Mr. Straxge. Yes, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. 6.000 pounds. That is 3 tons.
Mr. Bartels. Out of 24 which is about a 12-percent seizure rate.
Mr. SouRwixE. 12, I21/2.
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Do you think you are getting that much generally
over the whole traffic ?
Mr. Bartels. I do not know how I can estimate that.
Mr. SouRwixE. You have not worked the whole traffic as intensively
as you worked the brotherhood, have you ?
Mr. Bartels. No.
Mr. Haislip. I think it would be fair to note, too. that in the last
year or two of the activity with regard to the brotherhood members,
probably increasingly large amounts of their hashish was seized be-
13
cause of the attention given to them. At first none of it was seized. It
was all getting: thronorh.
Mr. SorRwixE. You do not have any estimate of what they are
handlinof. brino^ing in and peddling now.
Mr. Haislip. Not any reliable figure.
Mr. SouRwiNE. You have not quit working on them yet, have you?
Mr. Bartels. No. We have not totally quit working on them.
Mr. SouRwixE. Can you give us a figure on Avhat hashish sells for
wholesale in the United States?
Mr. Bartels. I will defer to Mr. Sinclair on that.
Mr. SixcLAiR. It depends on how much you are talking about. The
standard price that we see and recognize is $900 a povmd.
]Mr. SouRwixE. And that is a good deal less than it costs when you
sell by the paper, is it not ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. Or by the ounce. You can break it up by the bag and
sell it at $100 an ounce. That would realize $1,600 a pound but when
you think that it only costs $15 a pound in Afghanistan, that is a sub-
stantial increase in profit.
]Mr. SoTJRWixE. Everybody gets his cut.
That retail price, then, is" about $1,600 a pound, $100 an ounce.
Mr. SixcLAiR. Yes.
Mr. SouRWixE. "What is the average strength of the hashish sold in
this country ?
Mr. Haislip. I have a figure on that based on the reports of our
laboratories. Over a period of time they found that the variations were
great, but that the average strength' of hashish contained approxi-
mately 10 percent THC and that for the marihuana or hashish oil, the
average was approximately 46 percent THC.
Mr. SouRWixE. And then this real high strength pot oil you told us
about that ran 90 percent was nine times as strong as the average.
Mr. Haislip. For hashish, yes.
Mr. Bartels. That is right.
INIr. SouRWixE. So that, although you said that the usual dose of
the oil was one drop to a normal cigarette, actually that will produce
a strength 21/2 or 3 times as much as an ordinary marihuana joint,
will it not ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes.
Mr. SouRwixE. How much hashish would the average person have
to ingest in order to develop a real hashish high ?
Mr. Sixclair. A gram or two, I believe. The size of a pencil eraser,
a gram or two,
Mr. SouRwixE. Now, what percentage of this $100 an ounce would
that be ?
Mr. Sixclair. A small part of it, sir. There are approximately 30
grams in an ounce.
Mr. Son?wixE. If a man buys an ounce of it for $100, does he have
a hundred highs ?
Mr. SixcLAre. No. Probably around 30. That would be an average
and that could vary up and down depending on the individual.
Mr. SouRwixE. "Was it the brotherhood which invented or first de-
veloped hashish oil ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, I think that is right. It was Sand, was it not ?
Mr, Sixclair. No. Another brotherhood member.
23-53S 0—73-
14
Mr. SouRWiNE. Is any other organization producing it now that yo"
know of ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. There must be. yes.
Mr. SouRWiNE. In other words, you do not know who but you know
there is production other than the brotherhood production.
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct.
Mr. SouRwiNE. You raised the question of who in the brotherhood
was responsible for the development of hashish oil. Do you want to
put that name in the record ?
Mr. Sinclair. According to our best intelligence sources it is Ronald
Hadley Stark.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Getting back to this business of a dose of one drop
in a cigarette — if he puts two drops in the cigarette, he has for prac-
tical purpose got a serious overdose, has he not ?
Mr. Sinclair. Again, I think that depends on the individual.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Thpre is a tolerance that develops?
Mr. Sinclair. I do not know if it is a tolerance but you never know
exactly how concentrated the THC or the hashish oil that you happen
to be using is.
Mr. SouRwiNE. Well, suppose you take 45 percent which is half of the
maximum the brotherhood was able to arrive at. And suppose a man
gets eight drops which is about what, half a teaspoonful ? \Vhat does it
do ? Put him out ? Kill him ? Affect his brain seriously ?
Mr. Bartels. We don't know. It will affect his brain seriously but
I think it is new enough, hashish oil, that we do not know what it will
do.
Mr. Sourwine. It might seriously affect the brain permanently.
Mr. Bartels. That is possible.
Mr. Sourwine. Are any experiments being made along this line to
determine tolerance ?
Mr. Bartels. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Sourwine. Is anybody making experiments alons: this line with
animals ?
Mr. Bartels. I do not know.
Mr. Haislip. I think the National Institute of Mental Health has
fjome research grants in this area but we would not be able to answer
for what they are doing in the field.
Mr. Sourwine. The FDA would not be working on it because it is
not being offered in the market legally.
Mr. Haislip. That is correct.
Mr. Sourwine. Some of the evidence that this subcommittee took
last year, about a year ago. suggests that there is a direct tie-in be-
tween hashish smoking and marihuana smoking. What would your
opinion be on this? Does the marihuana smoking lead to the use of
hashish in any degree?
Mr. Bartels. I think the two are interchangeable.
Mr. Sourwine. Interchangeable. Not a matter of movement from
the man who smokes a joint to the man who smoke hashish. It is back
and forth.
Mr. Bartels. I think it can lead up. In other words, the hashish be-
ing more potent, more reliable, is more sou""ht after bv the confirmed
and experienced marihana smoker who frequently is dissatisfied with
15
the 2 percent THC when he can get higher, So I would think yes,
it can lead to it
Mr. SouRWiNE. Before we get through I would like to cover for
the record the connection of Leary with William Mellon Hitchcock,
the multimillionaire Avho permitted Leary to continue his experimen-
tation with LSD on the Hitchcock farm in Dutchess County, N.Y.
Do you want to go into that now or leave it for one of the other men
with you to offer ?
Mr. B ARTELS. That is sub judice right now.
Mr. SouRwiNE. It will be covered in a later statement. All right.
Is the equipment for the preparation or production of hashish
oil extensive or expensive ?
Mr. Haislip. We have some photographs for the record that we
have offered that will illustrate a typical laboratory.
Mr. SouRwaxE. That is, it will be offered.
Mr. Haislip. It is being offered now.
Mr. Bartels. I will be happy to offer them.
Mr. SouRwiNE. That is fine.
Mr. Chairman, may these be received ?
The Chairman. They will be received.
Mr. Bartels. May I offer to you two photographs, one revealing
a marihuana or hashish oil laboratory seized in Escanaba, Mich., and
the other being the brotherhood "Orange Sunshine" LSD laboratory
in St. Louis, Mo. ?
[The photographs referred to follow :]
16
Marihuana or Hashish Oil Laboratory, Escanaba, Mich.
17
Brotherhood "Orange Sunshine" LSD Laboratory, St. Louis, Mo.
Mr. SouRWixE. I am not a laboratory technician or expert and un-
able to tell from looking at one of these but it does not look as though
the equipment is very expensive. Do you have a conclusion in that
regard ?
Mr. Bartels. It is very inexpensive.
Mr. SouRwixE. Very inexpensive.
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. SouRwiXE. When you talk about hashish oil, does that mean
it can only be prepared from hashish or can it be distilled from simple
marihuana?
Mr. Bartels. From crude marihuana as well.
Mr. SouRwix'E. Marihuana and hashish are different versions of the
cannabis plant.
Mr. Bartels. That is right, a different process.
Mr. Sourwix'e. And the hashish oil that you get from one in an equal
degree of concentration would be just the same as what you get from
the other ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
18
Mr. SouRwiNE. Does hashish oil have the characteristic cannabis
odor so that it can be detected by your trained dogs that are used by
the Customs and Post Office Departments ?
Mr. Bartels. I defer to Mr. Strange on that. Do you know?
Mr. Haislip. I think in most cases the oil would be sealed in a
container in any case which would probably make it less subject to that
type of discovery because it would be tightly sealed.
Mr. Sinclair. Usually in glass vials.
Mr. SouRwixE. Do you know whether the oil has a similar aroma
or flavor when put in a cigarette or smoked to what you would get if
you used marihuana?
Mr. Haislip. The best report we have on that is that it is not as
easily detectable and that is just a street report.
Mr. SouRwixE. I have no more questions at this time. Do you want
to go ahead ? Mr. Sinclair next ?
Mr. Bartels. Yes, sir.
Mr. Sinclair. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the subcommittee, to the
agents who participated in the Brotherhood of Eternal Love investi-
gation, 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 traf-
fickers 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 con-
tinue his experimentation with LSD from Hitchcock's 4.000-acre
estate in Millbrook, a quiet community in Dut^'hess County, N.Y.
From 1963 to 1966. Dr. Timothy Leary planted the seeds of "mysti-
cism through drufifs" in the minds of countless thousands of vovmsr
Americans. Even Dr. Leary never realized the f ruitfulness of his crop
or the international ramifications of its harvest.
From Millbrook, Dr. Leary traveled to Berkeley. Calif., and from
Berkelev 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 lecral
corporation in the State of California. The brotherhood was also
granted a tax-exempt status on the basis that it claimed to be a reli-
gious organization.
The brotherhood was heavily drug oriented. From its inception, in
addition, intelligence indicates that the group was ceremoniouslv prac-
ticing group sexual freedom in connection with the use of drugs.
From 1966 to 1968. the brotherhood flourished by dealing in mari-
huana smuggled in 100-pound lots from Mexico and bv traffickins: in
LSD obtained from illicit sources and from Sandoz Chemical "Works
in Basel, Switzerland.
19
Mr. SouRwixE, Do you imply that the LSD obtained from the Basel
firm was legally obtained ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. 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. SouRwixE. Thank you.
Mr. Sinclair. But, that was not enoucrh; and in the latter part of
1967, Glenn Lynd and two other brotherhood members traveled to
Afg:hanistan in search of a permanent source of supply for brother-
hood hashish.
Mr. SouRwixE. That is Glenn Lynd, L-y-n-d ?
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
Thev purchased 125 pounds of high-quality Afghanistan hashish
from their suppliers in Afghanistan for $15 a pound and smuggled
it back into California where thev sold it for $900 a pound. This was
to be the first 125 pounds of nearly 24 tons of hashish smuff^led into
the United States from Afghanistan, Lebanon, and India by the
Brotherhood of Eternal T>(Ove.
In the summer of 1968, brotherhood members traveled to San Fran-
cisco 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. SouRwixE. 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. SixcLAiR. Xo, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. Have you put them out of the business ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. No, sir.
Mr. SouRwixE. So that is only what you know about that they have
done heretofore ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. That is correct.
Mr. SouRwixE. Go ahead.
Mr. Strange. Two weeks affo there were 923 pounds of hash seized
in Xew York and Las Vegas. That was a brotherhood shipment.
Mr. Soi-rwixe. Where in Las Vegas ?
Mr. Straxge. It came in from Amsterdam through Kennedv Air-
port to New York and from there to Las Vegas. It cleared U.S. cus-
toms 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. SouRwixE. Came in through the McCarran Airport in Las
Vesras. All right go ahead.
Mr. Sixclair. In March 1969, the first batch of "orange sunshine"
LSD was made bv brotherhood membere in a laboratory located out-
side 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 larg-
est supplier of hashish and LSD in the Ignited States.
Mr. SouRWiXE. Let us get the reference. That phrase "point of time"
has meant a lot of things. You are talking about March 1969.
20
Mr. Sinclair. That is correct, sir.
Mr. SouRWixE. Go ahead.
Mr. Sinclair. The center of their operations was still La^na 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 organiza-
tion, 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 term
of 1 to 10 years. According to one of his companions, I^ary escaped
from prison in September 1970 with the help of the Weathermen fac-
tion of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who also pro-
vided 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 set-
back when George Oliphant Avas arrested in Lebanon while in pos-
session of 800 pounds of hashish. It was later determined that Oliphant
and otlier members of the bi'otherhood had smu.ofgled approximately
4,000 iKMinds of I^banese hashish into the United States since 1968.
Mr. SoLTiwiNE. 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 Lagima Beach, Calif., while operating a
1 In the pxperpt from his hook, "Confessions of a Pooe Fiend." on p. 35, Timothy l^nry
sav.s : "I Kiuldenlv flashed on the meshlnj: of nnderprounrl energy systems. Dope dealers raise
.?25.000 to finance the hreakont. And the hread goes to the manic ffuerrlllas." The suhcom-
mlttee has no way of estnhllshlnjr whether the amount paid to the Weathermen was actually
!i!.50.000 as stated" to the Drup Enforcement Acency by a member of the brotherhood who was
Involved In the fundralslnpr and Is now cooperating with the DEA, or whether It was .$25,000
as stated by Leary in his hook. What does appear certain Is that a very substantial sum was
paid to the Weathermen to arrange Leary's escape from the prison and from the country.
21
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. SixcLAiR. 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. SouRwiNE. Go ahead, sir.
Mr. SixcLAiR. 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 Brothei-hood 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 sun-
shine" 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. SouRwixE. Chastain is part of this Leary family, too ?
Mr. SixcLAiR. 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. SouRwixE. That was done in what year ?
Mr. Six'CLAiR. That was done in early 1972.
This strike force operated under the code name "Operation BEL."
The tool used by Operation BEL agents was the strongest weapon nar-
cotic officers have in their battle against drug traffickers. The con-
spiracy laws.
On August 3, 1972, the Orange County, Calif., grand jury climaxed
many months of investigation by Operation BEL agents when it re-
turned indictments against 29 members of the brotherhood organiza-
tion. This indictment was aimed primarily at the hashish smuggling
arm of the brotherhood.
22
On August 5, 1972, at 6 a.m., Operation BEL agents executed
search warrants and arrest warrants in Hawaii, Oregon, and in nu-
merous locations in southern California. Sixteen major brotherhood
figures were arrested, and over $40,000 in cash was seized, along with
a total arrest of 53 individuals.
In November 1972, a DEA special agent of the BEL Task Force
traveled with an IRS agent to Brussels, Belgium, to investigate a lab-
oratory relative to Ronald Hadley Stark. As a result of the investiga-
tion and subsequent followup, Stark was indicted by a Federal grand
jury in April 1973. (Stark is a chemist from New York who in 1964
was worth approximately $1,400 and who in 1968 was reportedly worth
approximately $1,200,000. Stark is a close associate of Nicholas Sand,
and according to some reports, was the first person to ever produce
hashish oil from solid hashish.)
Mr. SouRwiNE. Can you give us lists of the names and whatever you
have in the way of identification of the individuals in these two groups ;
that is, the 29 and the 53 that you just mentioned?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes, sir, for the record.
Mr. SouRWiNE. Can that be provided for the record later?
Mr. Sinclair. Yes, sir, it can.
Mr. SouRwiNE. May that be the order, Mr. Chairman ?
The Chairman. So ordered.
[The information referred to may be found in the appendix, p. 79.]
Mr. Sinclair. The investigation continued, and on December 6, 1972,
the Orange County grand jury returned another indictment, this time
aimed primarily at the brotherhood's "orange sunshine" LSD system.
On Decem...
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
muggler and adviser to Scully and Sand