European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes saturday August 19.1989 corruption from cocaine reported hemisphere wide Washington a cocaine corruption i sweeping across the hemisphere with one bahamian official offering to sell traffickers every ounce of the drug confiscated in that Island nation a Senate witness says. In the Bahamas it goes All the Way to the top convicted drug smuggler Max Mermelstein said thurs Day testifying from behind a screen while six govern ment bodyguards stood by. The federally protected witness told the Senate judiciary committee in an electronically disguised voice that before his i98s arrest he smuggled up to 55 tons of cocaine into the United states As an employee of the boys from  he has been cooperating with the government an has a Price on his head that committee chairman Joseph Biden d-del., placed at $3 million. Biden called the hearing to provide background be fore the administration unveils its comprehensive drug fighting program next month. Mermelstein said the United states has been slowed in its moves to combat colombian traffickers in part because we Deal directly with the police and local governments and in South America that s a direct line to the  High ranking army officers appear immune to co Caine corruption in Colombia he said but other officials arc either bribed or murdered. Either they take the Money or they die he said. He said the corruption was by no Means confined to Colombia and that he was once offered a Deal of so much per kilo for any cocaine confiscated by the Baha Mian government for distribution in the United states. We were setting it up but i was arrested he said. He said one Cartel Pilot forced by plane trouble Coset Down in Cuba with a Load of cocaine was told a $10,000 payoff would always buy emergency Landing privileges. Cocaine Kingpins have used billions of Nar Codol Lars from . Sales to follow a Globe hopping life style with visits to the bullfights in Mexico and Painas Well As the olympic games in South Korea Mermelstein said. In other testimony the commandant of the Marine corps Gen. Alfred m. Gray jr., told the panel he is sceptical about so called Boot Camps advocated by some Law enforcement officials for Young drug offend ers instead of prison. I can Tell you right up front if you Don t provide a alternative it will fail he said adding that Marine Boot Camp is designed to produce fighting men and notto punish offenders. It s a completely different kind of socialization he said. He said the Center of Gravity in fighting drugs i America is on the Side of stopping demand rather than Supply and was critical of the idea of a military attack on South american coca Fields. I Hope we can have a More balanced and far reach ing thought process. Because we live in a More Complex world than that and i think we All know that he said. A former assistant . Attorney in Miami Richard Grcgorio told the committee the customs service and the marshals service developed a plan to arrest colombian drug Kingpin Jorge Ochoa last fall during a trip to Caracas Venezuela and Fly him to the unite states for trial but the plan was dropped because of state department opposition. Ochoa has been indicted by . Grand juries several times but the colombian supreme court abrogated that country s extradition treaty with the United state two years ago and he cannot be arrested by his coun try s authorities on a . Warrant. Dea agent accused of drug deals reportedly had defaulted on Loans Boston a a Federal drug agent accused of transporting cocaine from Miami to Boston had de faulted on More than $ 136,000 in Loans and faces fore closure on a House he owns according to a report published Friday. Edward k. O Brien 44, a supervisory special agent with the . Drug enforcement administrate. Lion was arrested Mon us a Day at Logan intimation Al Airport. The Boston Globe said court records indicate Brien had defaulted on loan of $80,000 from i Robert h. Clarkjr. Of Southwick and a loan of y $56,421 from Robert of Edward o Brien Lette of Freetown. Both Loans were made last year. Clark initiated foreclosure proceedings on o Brien s Sandwich Home at land court in Boston and judge John e. Fentonjr. Issued the foreclosure order on june 26, the newspaper said. Oulu Etc had sued o Brien in new Bedford District court and a Lien was placed on the Home in april the Globe said. O Brien bought the House in March 1987 for$150,000. Bastable county registry of deeds re cords show o Brien borrowed $30,000 from Paul , who sold him the House. O Brien owes $ 120,000 on the Home loan from the Plymouth five cents savings Bank the Globe said. The newspaper also reported that last year o Brien who was making $39,540 a year at the time was or dered to pay $475 a. Week in child support payments and a $9,000 Home equity loan on a Springfield House As a part of a divorce settlement. Accused with o Brien were his two Brothers John and Paul. Court records indicate Paul o Brien has $ 17,000 in credit card debts the Globe said. The three have not been indicted or arraigned on formal charges. Deaver prosecutor faults ethics Law Washington a the Law on government ethics has failed to protect the Public from lobbying abuses by former Public officials the Independent counsel who prosecuted former White House aide Michael Deaver said Friday. In a final report on the Deaver Case Whitney North Seymour said the prosecution of Deaver on charges of lying about his lobbying activities was a useful contribution to the Public  but Seymour noted his inability to prosecute Deave Runder the ethics Law for violating restrictions on lobby ing activities. It is self evident. That the failure of the ethics i government act effectively to protect the Public from lobbying abuses by former Public officials requires corrective legislative action Seymour said. The Independent counsel said the Law allows aides of former High government officials to return As lobbyists to their old government agencies. He also note that the office of government ethics has divided the White House into nine separate agencies a process known As compartmentalization. The effect Seymour said was to prohibit Deaver s contacts with Only a handful of  Seymour added that achieving ethics in government does not turn on the wording of legislative prohibitions. But on the Quality of the men and women who serve in office and the leadership they arc Given from  there is a need to bring lobbying activities in the executive Branch under closer Public scrutiny sey Mour said. Reagan s onetime Deputy chief of staff was fined$100,000 and ordered to perform 1,500 hours of Community service for his three felony convictions in 1987 of lying under oath to a House subcommittee an grand jury that questioned him about his lobbying of former Reagan administration colleagues. Deaver citing a $1 million Legal Bill is seeking to reduce the $ 100,000 Fine to $25,000. Stateside . Lung disease deaths up by 33% in last decade Atlanta a the american death rate Tram emphysema and bronchitis is up by 33 per cent since 1979, with the highest rates in the West four out of five such deaths arc caused by smoking Federal health specialists said thursday. The National centers for disease control said71,099 americans died of emphysema Bronchi tis and similar chronic lung diseases a category that docs not include lung cancer in 1986, the latest year for which Complete statistics Are available. Cd statisticians found that 82 percent of the deaths from such diseases were smoking related. The highest lung disease death rates occurred in the West with the exceptions of Utah and Hawaii. Topping the list was Wyoming with 49such deaths per 100.000 people in 1986. Significantly higher than the National average of 29.5,the cd said. Other states with higher than average death rates from chronic lung disease were Kentucky West Virginia and Maine. National fraternity to end animal House activities new York a animal House is outland Temperance in at Zeta Beta Tau which next month becomes the first National fraternity to eliminate hazing Cut off fraternity spending on alcohol and put an end to  s not easy to implement it May be painful but nevertheless it s an idea which we Felt should be followed through said zit executive director James e. Grcar jr., one of the movers behind the decision. The rules arc aimed at breaking the image of the stereotypical fraternity House lunacy heavy drinking random abuse of pledges or prospective members while keeping positive aspects such As bonding and Community service Grcar said thursday. Zeta Beta Tau which has 5,000 Active Mem Bers at More than 100 chapters in the United states and Canada is the first National fraternity to put an end to pledging. A dozen other nation Al fraternities Are considering similar plans said Jonathan Brant director of the National inter rate Unity conference. Georges Bank Clam Beds closed because of toxin Boston a Clam Beds on George Bank have been closed because of High Levels of a toxin caused by red  90-Day closing of the fishing grounds 100 Miles East of Cape cod to surf Clam harvesters was declared by the . Department of Commerce. High calamities of paralytic shellfish toxin were found in the clams said Brian Gorman of the National oceanic and atmospheric administration. Red tide toxin causes tingling on the Tongue and lips and can Lead to respiratory fail ure and  said he believed it was the first time in the roughly five years that surf clams have been extensively fished on the Bank that the area was closed because of red tide caused by a algae like organism normally found in shellfish closer to Shore. Home operator charged after near embalming Springfield Ohio a the operator of a boarding Home where an 87-year-old Resi Dent was mistaken for dead and nearly embalmed has been charged with three counts of operating without proper licensing. The charges filed against Robbie Caldwell Are minor misdemeanours and carry a maximum Fine of $100, the City s prosecutor Albert Stewart said  resident of the boarding Home came stringfellow apparently lost consciousness aug.5 and was mistaken for dead. She was trans ported to a funeral Home where her murmuring startled a mortician who was preparing to embalm her. Stringfellow who is Blind was taken to mercy medical Center she was released from the hos Pital wednesday and transferred to a nursing Home. Doctors said she apparently remember nothing of the events at the funeral Home