Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 5.djvu/476

 102 STAT. 4482

PUBLIC LAW 100-690—NOV. 18, 1988 gated under paragraph (1) shall be considered participating air carriers. The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish by regulation a procedure for finding a carrier to be a participating carrier and procedures for subsequent removal of that status. The Secretary shall not remove an air carrier from the status of participating air carrier unless the Secretary has first provided to the air carrier a written notice that the air carrier is not in compliance with the regulations or inspection requirements promulgated under paragraph (1), which notice shall include the reasons for that determination, and has provided to the air carrier a reasonable opportunity to correct such noncompliance. (3) Participating air carriers shall be considered to have met the test of the highest degree of care and diligence required under law, and shall not be subject to the penalty or seizure provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930, if a controlled substance is discovered aboard an aircraft that they may own or operate or in the cargo they carried, if the participating air carrier establishes at an oral presentation that the air carrier was not grossly negligent nor engaged in willful misconduct, and complied with the applicable procedures established in the regulations promulgated under paragraph (1). (4) For the purpose of this subsection, the term "air carrier" means an air carrier or foreign air carrier as those terms are defined in section 101 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. App. 1301). (5) No provision of this section shall have any effect on air transportation security requirements prescribed pursuant to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958.

SEC. 7370. COMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) on October 11, 1988, the United States Customs Service announced the results of Operation C-Chase, a 2-year investigation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and its top managers; (2) this investigation culminated in simultaneous arrest, search and seizure warrants in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom; (3) Operation C-Chase is the first indictment of an international financial institution for laundering illegal narcotics proceeds; and (4) Operation C-Chase ended in 39 arrests, including of Amjad Awan—General Manuel Antonio Noriega's personal banker— and other alleged international drug and money laundering kingpins known as Gonzalo Mora, Jr., Roberto Alcaino, and Don Chepe, some of whom are intimately tied to the Medellin Cartel. O> COMMENDATION BY THE CONGRESS.—The C o n g r e s s t)

William von Raab.

Bonni Tischler.

(1) commends Commissioner William von Raab, for his outstanding leadership and dedication over the last 7 years as Commissioner of the United States Customs Service, and specifically for his direction of Operation C-Chase; (2) commends and expresses its gratitude to the undercover agents involved in Operation C-Chase, who risked their lives and well-being for the sake of combatting the international drug trade; and (3) expresses its appreciation for the efforts of Special Agent in Charge Bonni Tischler of the Customs Service, and all other

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