New Orleans served as a [[cocaine]] entry point for Contra-connected flights and was where [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-[[DEA]] contract agent [[Barry Seal]] was murdered by Colombian hit men in 1986. The city's port and airfield infrastructure made it a key node in the Southern drug trafficking corridor that connected the [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín Cartel]] to the [[Contras|Contra]] supply chain.[^1] ### Contra Cocaine Flights The Torres brothers described airfields in [[New Orleans]] and Brownsville, [[Texas]], where Contra cocaine was allegedly being flown in under armed guard. Robert Owen reported to [[Oliver North]] that a DC-6 owned by [[Mario Calero]], brother of [[FDN]] leader [[Adolfo Calero]], "which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." The planes moving weapons to the Contras in [[Central America]] were the same aircraft returning with narcotics.[^2] ### Meneses as a Source The New Orleans DEA determined that [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] was responsible for smuggling cocaine into the city. The DEA's "Operation Alligator" resulted in the indictment of numerous persons for smuggling cocaine, and it was determined that Meneses was a source of supply for the group. The operation confirmed that Meneses's trafficking network extended well beyond the West Coast.[^3] ### Barry Seal's Murder Seal, who had been one of the biggest cocaine importers in the southern [[United States]] while working as a CIA and DEA contract agent, was murdered in New Orleans in 1986 by Colombian hit men shortly after his testimony in a drug trial. His assassination eliminated a key witness who could have connected the CIA's Contra operations to domestic drug trafficking.[^4] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Cast of Characters. [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 7. [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 3. [^4]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Cast of Characters.