Renato Peña Cabrera was the [[FDN]]'s San Francisco representative and a [[cocaine]] dealer for [[Norwin Meneses]].[^1] Peña served as a key conduit between the FDN leadership in [[Honduras]] and the Contra support network in [[California]], facilitating arms procurement and communications. ### Role with the FDN As the FDN's San Francisco representative, Peña was present "on many occasions" when Meneses telephoned FDN commander [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]] in Honduras. Peña told federal investigators in 1997 that "Meneses told Pena of Bermúdez's requests for such things as gun silencers (which Meneses obtained in [[Los Angeles]]), cross bows, and other military equipment for the [[Contras]]." Meneses sometimes personally delivered the supplies to the Contras, Peña said; other times he had contacts in [[Miami]] and Los Angeles forward them to friendly Honduran authorities.[^1] Peña also served as a propagandist for the FDN. "Meneses would bring [back] military information, bulletins, and communiques from Bermúdez that Pena would put into newsletters and give to the press and Contra sympathizers," a summary of Peña's interview states.[^1] ### Drug Trafficking Peña was one of Meneses's cocaine dealers and admitted hauling millions in drug profits from [[San Francisco]] to Los Angeles for delivery to the Contras. He also told the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] that Meneses had a [[DEA]] agent on his payroll who warned him of the impending arrests of [[Julio Zavala]] and [[Carlos Cabezas]] weeks before the February 1983 raids.[^2] Peña told CIA investigators that Meneses introduced him to his nephew, Jairo Meneses, who was in charge of distributing the family's cocaine. "Pena says he made from six to eight trips from San Francisco to Los Angeles between 1982 and 1984 for Meneses' drug trafficking organization," the CIA Inspector General reported. "Each time, he says, he carried anywhere from $600,000 to $1,000,000 to Los Angeles and returned to San Francisco with six to eight kilograms of cocaine." A Colombian associate told Peña that a portion of the proceeds were going to the Contras. The excess money — $300,000 to $500,000 per trip beyond what the cocaine cost — was likely the Contras' cut.[^3] ### CIA Awareness Partly declassified [[Central Intelligence Agency]] records show the agency had evidence as early as October 1982 of links between Meneses's drug ring, the FDN, and an unnamed U.S. religious organization involving an exchange of narcotics for arms. A CIA cable identified Peña as one of four persons who would represent the FDN at a meeting in [[Costa Rica]] regarding this exchange. CIA headquarters ordered the Domestic Collection Division to halt further investigation, then had second thoughts, cabling a Latin American station that "the information was surfaced by another [U.S. government] agency and may return to haunt us."[^3] ### Arrest and DEA Debriefing Peña and Jairo Meneses were arrested on cocaine trafficking charges in November 1984. Agents found a kilo of cocaine in the trunk of Peña's car. At an apartment Jairo maintained in Oakland as a cocaine storehouse, the DEA found half a kilo. Peña pleaded guilty in March 1985 and received a two-year sentence. During DEA debriefing, Peña said "the CIA was allowing the Contras to fly drugs into the United States, sell them, and keep the proceeds," the Justice Department Inspector General reported. Jairo had told him "the United States was aware of these dealings and that it was highly unlikely that I would even get in trouble." Both Meneses and [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] told him they raised money for the Contras through drug dealing; Blandón claimed "the Contras would not have been able to operate without drug proceeds." FDN leader Bermúdez "was aware of the drug dealing" and Peña described him as "a CIA agent."[^3] In later interviews with CIA and Justice Department inspectors, despite facing deportation, Peña insisted: "The CIA knows about all these things... The CIA decided to recruit Meneses so that drug sales could be used to support the Contras. Bermúdez could not have recruited Meneses on his own... but would have had to follow orders." A DEA informant independently corroborated Peña's testimony in spring 1986.[^3] Peña was dating Blandón's sister, Leysla Balladares, who paid bail for both Peña and Jairo Meneses.[^3] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty" [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom" [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 9: "He would have had me by the tail"