Southern Air Transport was once owned by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] and continued to serve as a CIA contractor airline during the [[Contras|Contra]] war. Based at [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]], Southern Air Transport aircraft were used for Contra supply runs. The airline was "of record" in the [[DEA]]'s databases from 1985 through 1990 "for alleged involvement in cocaine trafficking...several of the firm's pilots and executives were suspected of smuggling narcotics currency," the DEA reported. The CIA and DEA records show the airline was under investigation for drug trafficking by [[U.S. Customs]] in 1987.[^1] ### Barry Seal's C-123K The CIA took [[Barry Seal]]'s C-123K cargo plane to Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Ohio, outfitted it with hidden cameras, and used it in a joint CIA-DEA sting operation against the [[Sandinistas]] in 1984. After Seal flew his missions, the plane was parked at [[Mena, Arkansas|Mena airport]] for a year, then sold back to its original owner. In early 1986 it wound up with Southern Air Transport, where it was used for Contra supply runs and based at Ilopango until the Sandinistas shot it down over Nicaragua in October 1986.[^1] ### Drug Trafficking Allegations Miami FBI informant [[Wanda Palacios]] reported in 1986 that she witnessed Southern Air Transport planes being loaded with cocaine and unloading guns in Barranquilla, [[Colombia]], in 1983 and October 1985. She said she accompanied [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] boss [[Pablo Escobar]] to the landing site and spoke with [[Jorge Ochoa]], who bragged about working with the CIA. When the downed C-123K's flight logs were recovered in October 1986, they revealed flights to Barranquilla during October 1985 - exactly as Palacios had claimed. Southern Air said the planes carried drilling equipment, not drugs.[^1] Former Meneses aide [[Enrique Miranda]] testified that on occasion, cocaine from Ilopango was loaded onto aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and Miami-based Southern Air Transport for shipment to the United States. Miranda said [[Marcos Aguado]] and [[Norwin Meneses]] supervised the loading at Ilopango Air Force Base. Southern Air officials vehemently denied involvement with drug smuggling and sued news organizations that aired such allegations.[^1] Colombian informant [[Allen Raul Rudd]] reported that Escobar claimed planes similar to C-130s were flying guns to the cartel in Colombia, off-loading guns, loading cocaine, and flying it to U.S. military bases—an arms-for-drugs swap coordinated between the Medellín cartel and elements of the U.S. government.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends"