UN
Starr Spins
Media, After
ICP
Exclusive, Of
DEA &
Mexican
Police: UN
Recipient?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 26 --
After Inner
City Press this morning
exclusively
published,
and at
noon asked,
about cocaine
found inside
the UN, six
hours later
the UN
produced for a
dozen
reporters
Security chief
Gregory Starr,
with
photographs of
two "UN"
bags he said
the
"controlled
substance"
arrived in.
Starr
confirmed
the incident
occurred on
January 16.
Inner City
Press' law
enforcement
sources say
the NY Police
Department and
Drug
Enforcement
Agency arrived
at the UN that
day at 12:30
in the
afternoon.
Inner
City Press
asked Starr
why the UN had
not disclosed
the find of 14
kilos of
cocaine ten
days ago,
until its exclusive story
and question.
Starr
insisted it is
a US law
enforcement
matter, and
later implied
the UN
would never
have made it
public absent
Inner City
Press'
exclusive
expose.
The
hole in
Starr's and
the UN's spin
is to say that
14 kilos of
cocaine
showing
up inside the
UN, in bags
marked "UN,"
is "not a UN
matter."
Several
security
sources asked
Inner City
Press why a
pick-up of the
bags had not
been awaited.
"If
a bag
marked 'UN' is
automatically
brought by DHL
inside the UN,
sure the
person
intending to
go pick up the
'lost' package
could be in
the
UN," one
source told
Inner City
Press. "But
now the way
they've done
it, we'll
never know.
Someone may be
breathing
easy."
While
Starr said
the packages
originated in
Central or
South America,
he never
refused
to rule out
Mexico, which
is in neither.
But US law
enforcement
tells
the Press that
the Mexican
Federal Police
are now
involved. "We
want to know
who gave the
package to
DHL, they'd
have to a
so-called
'Reliable
Shipper,'" as
one source put
it.
(c) MRLee
UN's Starr
shows photo of
"UN" bags: how
not a UN
story?
Local
law
enforcement
was critical
of errors in
derivative
reports, which
misquoted the
estimate
street value
as $2 million
instead of
$440,000, and
alleged
"cartel"
involvement
without any
proof.
Starr
showed the
convened media
photos of the
bags, while
his colleague
David Bongi,
about whom
Inner City
Press has
previously
reported, held
up actual
Diplomatic
Mail bags,
which Starr
then implied
should not be
photographed
or published.
But
the immediate
turn over --
Starr said to
NYPD, but
other sources
say the DEA
took
possession --
had the effect
of making it
impossible to
know if a
person with
access to the
UN mail room
was going to
try to pick up
the bags. "So
someone's
being
protected," as
a source put
it.
Inner
City Press
asked Starr
if, for
example, all
entries into
the UN
connected to
general
contractor
Skanska and
the UN's
Capital Master
Plan
rehabilitation
are screened.
Starr claimed
they are, but
even other
UN Security
sources say
different.
Absent
this
morning's
story,
Inner City
Press asked
Starr, would
you ever have
made this
public? The
answer was not
yes. Watch
this site.
Inner
City Press
also asked
Starr if there
is any update
on his
commitment to
ensure an
investigation
of the murder
of UN Security
officer Louis
Maxwell by
Afghan
National
forces in
Kabul.
"No," Starr
said.
For shame.
(c) MRLee
UN's Bongi and
Diplomatic
Mail bags:
Erdogan not
shown
From
the
UN's
January 26
transcript of
its noon
briefing,
at which Inner
City Press
asked about
the drugs
after already
publishing its
first
story:
Inner
City
Press: I have
heard now from
multiple
sources within
Security
and elsewhere
that a
suspicious
package
containing
cocaine was
found
in the UN
scanner
recently and
was… the host
country was
called. They
are saying
that it was up
to 40 pounds
of cocaine,
and people
have asked me
within
Security, why
wasn’t the FBI
called? Why
wasn’t the
package
actually
picked up so
they could
find out who
was getting
it? I’d like
to know if
either now or
as soon as
possible
today, can
you, will you
confirm this
find of
cocaine in the
scanner and
why were… why
was only the
NYPD
apparently
called and
what’s OIOS
doing about
the
possibility of
drug
trafficking
inside
the United
Nations?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
first of all,
I will need to
come back to
you
with some more
details. But
the most
important
thing here is
that
this was not
connected to
the United
Nations, and
that’s why the
host
Government,
the city
authorities in
the shape of
the NYPD were
brought in to
assist and
they have
taken over.
Once I have a
few
more details,
I will let you
know.
Inner
City
Press: But
just, and
thanks again,
I appreciate
that, it just…
I am just
wondering
because it is
said that it
was found
inside the
UN in a
diplomatic
pouch by the
UN scanners,
so how is the
UN not…?
Spokesperson:
Because it was
not a
diplomatic
pouch. That I
can say
categorically,
it was not a
diplomatic
pouch.
Inner
City
Press: But how
did it get
into the UN?
Spokesperson:
Matthew, I
said I am
going to get,
give you more
details, and
you
can play 20
questions with
me now or you
can let me get
some details
for you later.
Okay?
[The
Spokesperson
later issued
the following
note to
correspondents:
Last
week,
two suspicious
mail bags were
intercepted by
the Security
and
Safety Service
at United
Nations
Headquarters
in New York.
Neither
the United
Nations nor
anyone located
in the United
Nations was
the
intended
recipient of
this delivery
and the bags
were not UN
bags,
diplomatic or
other.
The
relevant
host country
authorities —
the Drug
Enforcement
Administration
(DEA) and the
New York
Police
Department
(NYPD) —
were notified
about the
discovery of
the suspicious
bags and the
material
handed over to
their custody.
The United
States Mission
to
the United
Nations was
also kept
informed.
As
the
host country
authorities
are
investigating,
we would refer
you to
the DEA or
NYPD for any
further
details.]
Inner
City
Press: No, I
mean, exactly,
just what, a
detailed
explanation
of how it came
in and who, to
whom it was
addressed,
things like
that.
Spokesperson:
Yeah.
, 
