Missing former FBI agent busted Italian and Russian mobsters, Medellin cartel and Noriega

[seafan]

...and he was living in South Florida. I hope he is safe and will return soon to his home and family.



BY BRIAN SKOLOFF
ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 4, 2007

Relatives of a former FBI agent who has been missing in Iran for three weeks said Wednesday they are worried and doing everything possible to find him. U.S. officials, meanwhile, downplayed the disappearance as routine.

Robert Levinson, 59, of Coral Springs, was last seen March 11 on the Iranian resort island of Kish. He was said to be working on a film on the island, known for its beaches, sea turtles and relatively liberal atmosphere.

"We miss him and love him very much. We are worried about him and want him home safe and sound as soon as possible," his wife, Christine Levinson, and other relatives said in a statement to The Associated Press.

.....

Levinson was an FBI agent in New York and Florida known for busting Italian and Russian mobsters. His work also helped bring down Colombia's Medellin drug cartel and Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, said Guy Lewis, the former U.S. attorney in Miami.

"Part of his work was developing information on the Medellin drug cartel which, of course, walked us straight into the Noriega case," Lewis said.

Noriega was convicted in Miami for protecting Colombian cocaine shipments through Panama in the 1980s.

Lewis described Levinson as a dedicated intelligence gatherer. "He was a dogged guy in his work, very smart, very hard working, very respected," he said. "I certainly do hope he's OK."

Retired from the FBI since 1998, Levinson owns a private security company, R.A. Levinson & Associates. He is also a principal at Business Integrity International, an international investigative firm in Miami and New Jersey.

Americans need no visa to enter Kish, one of three Iranian free-trade zones with relaxed visa and trade rules.

(Bold emphasis added)

[flyarm]

1. who besides me smealls a rat??..the stench is growing as i type!! eom

[Turbineguy]

2. "..disappearance as routine..."

Routine Disappearances.

We may need to get used to that.

[seafan]

3. Several questions are coming up

This information below is in the cached version of http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=80&sid=1105257">this now-changed story, April 4, 6:12 pm, By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer



http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:We0lSwoqDdwJ:www.federalnewsradio.com/%3Fnid%3D80%26sid%3D1105257+robert+levinson+bush&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=us">Former FBI Agent Missing in Iran

By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
April 3, 12:50 am

FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said Monday the agent had retired nearly a decade ago and appeared to be in Iran on private business. He said the missing man was last seen there in early March and was not working for the FBI as a contractor.

"At this time, there are no indications that this matter should be viewed other than as a missing person case," Kolko said.
Kolko also said the former agent had worked on traditional criminal issues such as organized crime cases _ drawing a distinction between those and international terrorism or intelligence work that could have taken him to Iran.

Citing privacy concerns, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to give details about the name, age or occupation of the missing man. Kolko also declined to identify him. But the Tuesday edition of The Miami Herald, citing sources familiar with the case, identified him as Robert A. Levinson, 59, of Coral Springs, Fla.

McCormack said the United States saw no connection between the missing man and the current crisis between Iran and Britain over 15 British sailors and marines seized last month by Iranian forces.
The department has sent a letter to the Iranians through diplomatic intermediaries, asking if authorities there have any information about the man, McCormack said.

He said the State Department had been in constant contact with the man's family and his employers since he was reported missing, but the spokesman did not say why it had taken three weeks to get in touch with Iran about the case.

There are some interesting questions, imho, about how the State Department is handling this disappearance of what appears to be one of the FBI's finest former employees.

[blm]

4. So one of the GOOD GUYS knowledgeable of BFEE type operations disappears

and it's just not that big of a deal to Bush's State Dept.? Gee - wonder why.