# Manuel Noriega > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Manuel Noriega," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/manuel-noriega/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *Panamanian dictator and one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere who, John Kiriakou notes, was a paid CIA source for decades before being driven from the Vatican embassy in Panama City by U.S. forces blasting death metal and captured in the 1989 invasion.* - **Role:** President of Panama; drug trafficker - **Per Kiriakou:** A paid CIA source for decades - **Captured:** 1989, after U.S. invasion of Panama **Manuel Noriega** was the president of Panama, a military dictator, and, per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere. Kiriakou raises him to rebut a televised denial by former CIA officer Jack Devine that the agency ever worked with drug traffickers: Noriega, he notes, *"was a paid CIA source for decades."*[1] Kiriakou frames the case as part of the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)'s need to address its [drug-facilitation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-drug-facilitation) history *"truthfully."*[1] Kiriakou also describes the 1989 U.S. operation that removed Noriega from power: President George H.W. Bush invaded Panama with the military, and Noriega fled to the Vatican embassy in Panama City.[2] U.S. forces occupied Panama City and set up sound systems around the embassy, playing death metal at high volume until the Vatican ambassador told Noriega he had to leave; Noriega walked out and was taken into custody.[3] Kiriakou says the U.S. invoked the 1985 "Kiki Camarena law" to legally justify the 1989 invasion — telling Soviet objections at the UN Security Council that the action was legal under U.S. law.[4] ## The template for a scalp Asked why Washington would refuse [Maduro](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/maduro-capture) amnesty in exchange for stepping down, Kiriakou's answer was that a trial is the point: *"the only thing that I could think of was that Donald Trump wants a scalp."*[5] Noriega is the precedent he reaches for, and the part he emphasises is the timing of the charges. He *"was a long-term paid asset of the CIA until the CIA just didn't need him anymore, and they turned on him — and all of a sudden he became an internationally wanted narcotics trafficker. Which may or may not have been true, and even if it was true, the CIA knew he was doing it from the beginning anyway."*[5] The sequel: *"we sent in a small strike force and kidnapped him and brought him back to Miami and put him on trial for international drug trafficking, and he was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. I think he ended up dying in a French prison."*[6] Applied forward: *"they want a scalp. They want somebody that they can point to to show that they're serious about drugs — and they prove that they're serious about drugs by taking this narcotics trafficker, which he's not, and giving him a sentence of life without parole. It's the only thing that I can think of. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense."*[7] ## See also - [CIA Drug Facilitation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-drug-facilitation) - [Iran-Contra](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-contra) - [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) ## Sources 1. John Kiriakou: The CIA's Tortures and Crimes (2025-12-08), at 23:25. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVZ2KGc9-g&t=1405s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-08-judging-freedom-cia-tortures-and-crimes/ 2. Maduro's Capture - CIA Led? Deadliest Day for the CIA? I Going Deeper w/ John Kiriakou (2026-01-06), at 4:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qFZKC6Eaes&t=270s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-06-deep-focus-maduro-capture-cia-deadliest-day/ 3. Maduro's Capture - CIA Led? Deadliest Day for the CIA? I Going Deeper w/ John Kiriakou (2026-01-06), at 5:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qFZKC6Eaes&t=300s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-06-deep-focus-maduro-capture-cia-deadliest-day/ 4. LIVE: Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou on Venezuela, 9/11 (2026-01-05), at 24:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO0GpNURRRk&t=1441s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-05-lee-camp-unredacted-toni/ 5. 'Always Watch The Naval Movements' - Ex-CIA Officer John Kyr (2025-12-10), at 08:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzvjRksz9Q&t=498s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-10-mario-nawfal-always-watch-the-naval-movements-ex-cia-offic/ 6. 'Always Watch The Naval Movements' - Ex-CIA Officer John Kyr (2025-12-10), at 08:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzvjRksz9Q&t=530s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-10-mario-nawfal-always-watch-the-naval-movements-ex-cia-offic/ 7. 'Always Watch The Naval Movements' - Ex-CIA Officer John Kyr (2025-12-10), at 09:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzvjRksz9Q&t=560s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-10-mario-nawfal-always-watch-the-naval-movements-ex-cia-offic/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/manuel-noriega/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt