At the same time that North was profiting Iranian heroin traffickers by negotiating arms-for-hostages deals with them, he was also sending United States drug agents with large amounts of cash to pay off anyone, including other drug traffickers, who claimed to know the whereabouts of the hostages in Lebanon. North's success in recruiting the Drug Enforcement Administration bureaucracy demonstrates the hypocrisy of official drug policy in the Reagan years and the ongoing potential for presidential abuses of drug law enforcement. The use of drug law enforcement as a front for intelligence missions raises major questions about the ability of Congress to control covert operations. In addition, it carries the risk that the perversion of law enforcement institutions abroad could ultimately jeopardize the very legitimacy of law enforcement within the United States. 68 references