The U.S. government, through the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], [[National Security Council]], and [[State Department]], orchestrated support for the [[Contras|Contra]] war while simultaneously protecting Contra-connected drug traffickers from prosecution. The contradiction between the government's public anti-drug stance and its covert protection of drug-running allies was the central theme of the [[Dark Alliance]] investigation.[^1] ### The Dual Policy While the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] administration waged a public "War on Drugs" and Ronald Reagan and [[George H.W. Bush]] whipped the public into a frenzy over crack dealers, the CIA and NSC were facilitating cocaine trafficking by Contra-connected networks. The government used the [[DEA]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] to investigate street-level dealers while shielding Contra traffickers from prosecution. When [[Celerino Castillo]] sent reports to DEA headquarters about Contra pilots smuggling drugs, they disappeared into a "bureaucratic black hole." The secret 1982 Memorandum of Understanding between CIA Director William Casey and Attorney General William French Smith exempted CIA assets from drug crimes reporting for thirteen years.[^2] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Prologue. [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 15, Epilogue.