Page 544 of 703

MORI DocID: 1451843

SECRET

DO 71

7 May 1973

MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations

FROM : Chief, Division D

SUBJECT : Potentially Embarrassing Activities
Conducted by Division D

REFERENCE : Your staff meeting, 7 May 1973


1. There is one instance of an activity by Division D,
with which you are already familiar, which the Agency General
Counsel has called to be barred to this Agency by statute: the
collection [REDACTED] of international commercial
radio telephone conversations between several Latin American
cities and New York, aimed at the interception of drug-related
communications. The background on this is briefly as follows:

[REDACTED BOX]

29 September 1972 NSA asked if Division D would [REDACTED Therefore on
coverage, and on 12 October 1972 we agreed to do so. On
14 October a team of intercept operators from the [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] began the coverage experimentally.
On 15 January 1973, NSA wrote to say that the test results were
good, and that it was hoped this coverage could continue.

Because a question had arisen within Division D as to
the legality of this activity, a query was addressed to the
General Counsel on this score (Attachment A hereto). With the
reply (Attachment B), the intercept activity
was immediately terminated. There has been a subsequent series
of exchanges between Division D and the General Counsel as to
the legality of radio intercepts made outside the U.S., but
with one terminal being in the U.S., and the General Counsel

SECRET

00534

[vision-ocr]