Crossword Genius

A region damaged by politician who was involved in drug-trafficking (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

noriega

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'politician who was involved in drug-trafficking' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'a region damaged by' is the wordplay.
'damaged' indicates anagramming the letters.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'region' with letters rearranged gives 'norieg'.
'a' put after 'norieg' is 'NORIEGA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for noriega that I've seen before include "Panamanian general and president, convicted of drug trafficking in 1992" , "Panamanian dictator deposed by the USA in 1989" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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