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Ramon Milian Rodriguez is a former chief accountant of the Colombian cocaine cartel and was responsible for managing billion dollars in drug profits. In 1979, he negotiated an agreement of behalf of the Medellín Cartel under which Manuel Noriega received a commission for providing security and related services for the drug money. In 1983, Milian-Rodriguez was arrested for Racketeering, failure to file CTR's and CMIR's, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, unlawful transportation of drug proceeds, unlawful possession of counterfeit currencysentenced to 43 years in prison. He was a key witness for a senate investigation probing links between drugs and the CIA.

Early Life
Ramon Milian Rodriguez was born on March 7, 1951 in Havana, Cuba. His father owned a bank as well as a meat packing and construction company. His family immigrated to the US on January 17, 1959 when he was eight years old. He attended Santa Clara University in 1973 graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce and became a certified public accountant in Florida in 1976.

History
Milian-Rodriguez is a former money launderer and drug trafficker who assisted in laundering billions of dollars for the Medellin Cartel through a deal that he had negotiated on behalf of Manuel Noriega for a commission. He also supervised money laundering for the Ochoa-Escobar cocaine cartel in Colombia handling up to $200 million a month. Milian-Rodriguez stated that he had been asked to pay money to a Miami company destined for the contras. He used a series of Cuban controlled front companies in Miami, Florida and Costa Rica to funnel the money to the Contra cause. These fronts ranged from banks to obscure fish companies located in Miami shopping centers or in provincial port towns in Costa Rica. Later, Milian-Rodriguez told the Senate committee that this contact was Félix Rodríguez, a Bay of Pigs veteran, who had long been associated with CIA Counterinsurgency projects.

Milian-Rodriguez testified at a Senate Committee hearing that he had begun to rely on Panamanian Defense Force officials to assist him in laundering money from 1976 - 1979 before reaching a deal in 1979 with the Medellin Cartel under which Manuel Noriega received a commission for providing security and services for the drug money. According to Milian-Rodriguez the PDF helped the Medellin Cartel launder billions of dollars through Panama.

Milian also testified that he paid money on behalf of Cuban burglars jailed in the Watergate scandal.

Arrest
In November 1982, agents in Operation Greenback, a Miami-based federal task force investigating currency violations, received information from law enforcement authorities that Milian-Rodriguez was traveling periodically to Panama with extremely large sums of United States currency. A record check revealed that neither CTR's nor CMIR's had been filed as required, either by Milian-Rodriguez or the Panamanian currency exchange with which he was associated.

In 1983, Noriega informed the DEA about Milian-Rodriguez's money laundering activities. The tip resulted in his arrest and imprisonment. Milian-Rodriguez testified that in May 1983 Noriega decided to eliminate him as a middle man for laundering cartel drug money. Noriega gave information about the money laundering activities to the DEA which resulted in Rodriguez's arrest by the Customs service. When Senator John Kerry asked, "Do you believe if it were not for General Noriega that you would not be in prison today"? Milian-Rodriguez replied "absolutely".

In April 1983, law enforcement agents observed the loading of suspicious cargo aboard Milian-Rodriguez's Lear Jet, which was bound for Panama. Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confirmed that the cargo contained United States currency, which none of the required reports had been filed. Law enforcement agents, having been informed that Milian-Rodriguez would be making another trip to Panama, saw his jet being loaded as was observed the previous month. The jet was stopped, passengers and crew were removed and the cabin was searched. The search revealed $5,447,949 in US currency stowed within the cabin. Milian's attache case, also on the plane, contained detailed records relating to his money-smuggling activities and documenting the transportation to Panama of approximately $146 million between August 1982 and April 1983. The items were taken to the downtown Miami office of Operation Greenback. On the same day, police confiscated 61.4 lbs. of cocaine, several hand guns, a machine gun and two vehicles belonging to Milian-Rodriguez.

Milian-Rodriguez was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 5, 1983. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida brought a sixty-two count indictment against Rodriguez charged him charged with racketeering, unlawful transportation of drug proceeds, failure to file CTRs and CMIRs, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and unlawful possession of counterfeit currency. He was found guilty and given a 43 year prison sentence of which he served 25 years.