---
category: PROMIS Scandal
summary: Hurley was involved in a NSC-sanctioned drug/sting operation in Lebanon through
  Euramae Trading Company.
tags:
- Person
- PROMIS
---

[Michael T. Hurley](/people/michael-t-hurley/) was a [DEA](/organizations/dea/) Country Attache in Nicosia, [Cyprus](/places/cyprus/). He had overall responsibility for [Euramae Trading Company](/organizations/euramae-trading-company/), Ltd., and its initiative to sell [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) software to Middle Eastern countries for drug abuse control. [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) initially believed Hurley worked for the State Department, but later identified him as the in-country attache for the [DEA](/organizations/dea/) in Nicosia, [Cyprus](/places/cyprus/).[^1]

Hurley was involved in a [NSC](/organizations/national-security-council/)-sanctioned drug/sting operation in [Lebanon](/places/lebanon/) through Euramae Trading Company. This operation involved the flow of heroin to maintain the credibility of intelligence operations. [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) claimed that the operation became "perverted" at the U.S. end, with controlled heroin shipments being doubled or tripled, and only a third of the heroin being returned to the [DEA](/organizations/dea/).[^1]

[Werner Tony Asmar](/people/werner-tony-asmar/), a [DIA](/organizations/defense-intelligence-agency/) intelligence agent, became aware of what was happening with Hurley and the "non-controlled" loads of heroin being shipped back to the [United States](/places/united-states/). Asmar was later killed in a bomb blast, with his cover reportedly "deliberately blown."[^1]

In 1990, the [DEA](/organizations/dea/) reassigned Hurley to a [DEA](/organizations/dea/) intelligence position in Washington State. [Lester Coleman](/people/lester-coleman/) found this reassignment suspicious, believing it was done to "manufacture a case" against [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) and prevent Riconosciuto from becoming a credible witness about the [U.S. government](/places/united-states/)'s covert sale of the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) software to foreign governments.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.