# Places Index A geographic index of all places referenced in the vault, organized by type. Places include countries, cities, U.S. states, military installations, regions, and landmarks. --- ## Countries Nation-states and sovereign territories referenced in intelligence and research contexts. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[Afghanistan]] | Afghanistan is a country in Central Asia that was the site of a significant conflict involving the Soviet Union and the Mujahideen. It is also mentioned as one of the countries whose economies are dependent on the drug trade.[^1] | | [[Australia]] | Australia is a country and continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It is mentioned in connection with Nugan Hand Bank, which was an Australia bank co-founded by Michael Hand and Frank Nugan. | | [[Austria]] | Austria is a country in Central Europe. Its capital, Vienna, is home to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control (UNFDAC). | | [[Bahamas]] | The Bahamas served as a refueling stop for cocaine flights moving from South America to the eastern United States, with drug cartels establishing island bases for their smuggling operations. | | [[Bolivia]] | Bolivia was a primary source country for the cocaine that flowed through the Contra-connected trafficking networks, with the politically connected Suarez family supplying the Blandón-Meneses drug ring. | | [[Caribbean]] | The Caribbean was a key transit zone for cocaine shipments moving from South America through the Bahamas, Panama, and Costa Rica to the United States during the Contra war. | | [[Central America]] | Geographic region connecting North and South America that was the primary theater of Contra operations, drug trafficking, and CIA covert activities during the 1980s. | | [[Chile]] | Chile was the South American nation where CIA Deputy Director William Nelson ran the agency's controversial destabilization program that overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973. | | [[China]] | China is a country in East Asia. During the Cold War, it was a significant player in global geopolitics, often viewed as a rival or potential ally by both the United States and the Soviet Union.[^1] | | [[Colombia]] | Colombia is a country in South America that was the world's primary source of cocaine during the 1980s and has been profoundly shaped by drug trafficking, particularly through the operations of the Cali Drug Cartel and the Medellin Cartel. | | [[Costa Rica]] | Central American nation bordering Nicaragua that served as the primary base for the Southern Front Contra operations, the site of Norwin Meneses's drug empire, and the location of CIA operative John Hull's ranch. | | [[Cuba]] | Cuba and the Cuban-American exile community played a significant role in Contra operations, with Bay of Pigs veterans serving as key CIA operatives and anti-Castro networks providing logistical support. | | [[Cyprus]] | Cyprus is an island nation in the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Lebanon. Its capital, Nicosia, became a significant location for various intelligence and drug trafficking operations, particularly during the 1980s.[^1] | | [[Dominican Republic]] | The Dominican Republic was connected to the Contra war through Enrique Bermúdez, who served as deputy commander of a Nicaraguan infantry company sent to support a U.S.-led invasion there in 1965. | | [[Ecuador]] | Ecuador was a South American country affected by the cocaine paste smoking epidemic that spread from Peru and Bolivia in the 1970s, part of the broader Andean drug production zone. | | [[El Salvador]] | Central American nation where the CIA ran the Contra project from Ilopango Air Force Base, where DEA agent Celerino Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking, and where the Salvadoran military facilitated drug-for-arms exchanges. | | [[Fiji]] | Fiji is an island nation in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Michael Hand reportedly fled Australia under a false identity on June 14, 1980, on a flight to Fiji. | | [[France]] | France is a country in Western Europe. Its intelligence services have been implicated in various international affairs, including alleged involvement in disinformation campaigns related to psychic research during the Cold War. | | [[Guanacaste Province]] | Guanacaste Province in northern Costa Rica served as the headquarters for Contra drug and weapons trafficking operations during the 1980s, equipped with rural landing strips and corruptible local officials. | | [[Guatemala]] | Guatemala is a country in Central America that was deeply involved in Contra-related operations during the 1980s and has a history of political instability, military coups, and U.S. involvement in the region.[^1][^3] | | [[Haiti]] | Haiti was where George Morales kept a C-47 cargo plane that he donated to the Contras, part of the Caribbean infrastructure supporting the covert war. | | [[Honduras]] | Honduras is a country in Central America that served as the primary base of operations for the FDN Contra army during the 1980s and has been a focal point for political instability, military operations, and the influence of various international... | | [[Iran]] | The Iran-Contra scandal erupted in November 1986 when it was revealed that the Reagan administration had sold missiles to Iran and diverted the profits to fund the Contra war in violation of congressional prohibitions. | | [[Israel]] | The State of Israel is a country in the Middle East. It has been connected to various intelligence and psychic research activities, notably through figures like Uri Geller and its intelligence agency, Mossad. | | [[Jordan]] | Jordan is a country in the Middle East. Its capital, Amman, is home to the Arab Bank Limited. The Arab Bank Limited, under the leadership of Chairman and General Manager Abdul Majeed Shoman, expressed willingness to cooperate with First... | | [[Kuwait]] | Kuwait is a country in the Middle East. Lester Coleman's affidavit states that the Drug Enforcement Administration was using Euramae Trading Company to sell PROMIS software to drug abuse control agencies in various Middle Eastern countries,... | | [[Laos]] | Laos is a country in Southeast Asia. It is mentioned in connection with the clandestine Central Intelligence Agency war and drug trafficking activities in the Golden Triangle.[^1] | | [[Lebanon]] | Lebanon is a country in the Middle East that has been a focal point for various international political, military, and illicit activities, particularly during the 1980s. | | [[Liechtenstein]] | Liechtenstein is a small, landlocked country in Central Europe, known for its financial services. Adnan Khashoggi established front companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to handle his commissions.[^1] | | [[Mexico]] | Mexico served as a transit country for cocaine shipments and a base for CIA weapons manufacturing operations supporting the Contra war during the 1980s. | | [[Nazi Germany]] | Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country. During this period, the Nazi regime was responsible for the Holocaust and was a major belligerent in World War II. | | [[Nicaragua]] | Central American nation ruled by the Somoza family dictatorship for forty-six years until the Sandinista revolution in 1979, after which it became the battleground for the CIA-backed Contra war. | | [[Pakistan]] | Pakistan is a country in South Asia. It is mentioned in connection with the assembly of 107 MM rockets and their launchers at a facility known as the Pakistan Ordinance Works. | | [[Panama]] | Central American nation that was a major conduit for cocaine trafficking and money laundering, ruled by military dictator Manuel Noriega who simultaneously worked for the CIA and Colombian drug cartels. | | [[Panama Canal]] | The Panama Canal is a vital waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In 1977, the Jimmy Carter administration was determined to sign a treaty regarding the Panama Canal with General Torrijos. | | [[Peru]] | Peru was the South American country where smoking coca paste originated in the 1970s, a practice that preceded and foreshadowed the crack cocaine epidemic in the United States. | | [[Philippines]] | The Philippines is an archipelago nation in Southeast Asia. It is mentioned in the context of Ignacio Paz, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence in the Philippine government, who was assisted by Robert Booth Nichols in removing large sums of... | | [[Saudi Arabia]] | Saudi Arabia was a source of funding for the Contra war that supplemented the cocaine trafficking proceeds and Oliver North's illegal arms sales to Iran. | | [[Singapore]] | Singapore is a city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. It is mentioned in connection with Patrick Moriarty and Bo Gritz, as Moriarty paid Gritz to make business trips to China, Singapore, and other parts of Asia. | | [[South America]] | South America was the source of the cocaine that flowed through Contra-connected trafficking networks, with Colombia and Bolivia serving as the primary production countries. | | [[Soviet Union]] | The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. | | [[Spain]] | Spain was where DEA agent James Kible visited jailed Medellín cartel boss Jorge Ochoa in an attempt to recruit him to implicate the Sandinistas in drug trafficking. | | [[Switzerland]] | Switzerland is a country in Europe known for its banking system. Adnan Khashoggi established front companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to handle his commissions. | | [[Syria]] | Syria is a country in the Middle East that has been significantly involved in the regional drug trade and political conflicts. Its president, Hafez al-Assad, played a role in regional politics and alliances.[^1] | | [[Taiwan]] | Taiwan is an island nation in East Asia. It is mentioned in connection with Art Suchesk, a friend of Allan Boyak and a Central Intelligence Agency proprietary company runner. | | [[Turkey]] | Turkey is a country that was discussed in the context of a military joint venture to produce specialized ammunition. | | [[United States]] | The United States was the destination for Contra-connected cocaine trafficked by Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandón, the site of the crack cocaine explosion in inner-city neighborhoods, and where the government simultaneously prosecuted the War on Drugs while protecting CIA-linked drug traffickers. | | [[Venezuela]] | Venezuela is a country in South America whose president, Hugo Chavez, was a close ally of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras. | | [[Vietnam]] | Vietnam was the site of a protracted conflict involving the United States and other international powers. Several individuals who served there later became involved in covert operations and intelligence activities, and the U.S. | --- ## Cities Cities and urban areas significant to documented operations and events. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]] | Baton Rouge, Louisiana was the base of CIA-DEA contract agent Barry Seal, whose farm served as a cocaine drop site connected to both the Medellín cartel and Contra supply operations. | | [[Bogota]] | Bogota was the capital of Colombia and a center of the cocaine trade that supplied the Contra-connected trafficking networks operating in the United States. | | [[Cali, Colombia]] | Cali, Colombia was the headquarters of the Cali Cartel, a rival to the Medellín Cartel that also played a role in the cocaine trade connected to the Contra supply chain. | | [[Chicago]] | Chicago was one of the cities where Julio Zavala distributed cocaine as part of the Contra-connected trafficking network on the West Coast. | | [[Compton]] | Compton was a city in Los Angeles County heavily affected by the crack cocaine epidemic fueled by Danilo Blandón's Contra-connected trafficking network. | | [[Fort Lauderdale]] | Fort Lauderdale, Florida was where George Morales had his offices and where Contra representatives approached him to contribute to the war effort. | | [[Guatemala City]] | Guatemala City was the birthplace of the FDN Contra army and served as a regional base for CIA and DEA operations investigating Contra-connected drug trafficking. | | [[Houston]] | Houston, Texas was a destination for Contra-connected cocaine shipments and was monitored by federal agencies tracking the Blandón-Meneses drug network. | | [[Knokke-Heist]] | Knokke-Heist was a Belgian coastal municipality in West Flanders that featured prominently in the X-Dossier as a location where child prostitution networks operated during the 1970s and 1980s. | | [[Liege]] | Liege is a city in Belgium. It served as a hand-over point for USA military matériel purchased from NATO stocks in Europe by Israel. | | [[Lima]] | Lima, the capital of Peru, was where the first documented epidemic of cocaine paste smoking occurred in the 1970s, foreshadowing the crack epidemic that would hit the United States. | | [[Los Angeles]] | Largest city in California and the center of the crack cocaine explosion in South Central Los Angeles, fueled by cocaine supplied by Danilo Blandón's Contra-connected drug ring throughout the 1980s. | | [[Managua]] | Capital city of Nicaragua, the center of Norwin Meneses's drug empire, the site of his 1991 arrest, and where Gary Webb and Georg Hodel conducted their pivotal interviews with imprisoned Contra-connected drug traffickers. | | [[Medellin]] | Medellín, Colombia was the headquarters of the Medellín Cartel, which supplied cocaine to the Contra-connected trafficking networks run by Blandón and Meneses. | | [[Mexico City]] | Mexico City was where the FBI requested that Norwin Meneses be placed on a watch list for drug trafficking in 1979, years before his Contra-connected operations were publicly exposed. | | [[Miami]] | Major South Florida city that became the center of the Nicaraguan exile community, a hub for Contra fundraising and cocaine trafficking, and Danilo Blandón's base after leaving Los Angeles. | | [[New Orleans]] | New Orleans served as a cocaine entry point for Contra-connected flights and was where Barry Seal was murdered by Colombian hit men in 1986. | | [[New York City]] | New York City was where major media outlets either ignored or attacked the Dark Alliance series, and where the New York Times ultimately confirmed key CIA-Contra drug connections in 1998. | | [[Newport Beach, California]] | Newport Beach, California was where Ron Lister lived and operated his security business that was connected to Danilo Blandón's cocaine trafficking and weapons procurement network. | | [[Pacifica, California]] | Pacifica, California was where Danilo Blandón settled after arriving in the United States, establishing his first base of operations near San Francisco. | | [[Panama City]] | Panama City was the operational center of Manuel Noriega's military dictatorship and a hub for cocaine trafficking and money laundering connected to the Contra war. | | [[Puntarenas]] | Puntarenas was a Costa Rican Pacific coast city that gave its name to Frigorificos de Puntarenas, a shrimp company used by Oliver North as a cover for Contra supply operations and money laundering. | | [[San Bernardino]] | San Bernardino was a Southern California city where the Blandón-Meneses cocaine network distributed drugs, extending the Contra-connected trafficking operation beyond Los Angeles. | | [[San Diego]] | Southern California city where Ricky Ross was prosecuted, Danilo Blandón served as a DEA informant, and the pivotal DEA meeting with Gary Webb took place in October 1995. | | [[San Francisco]] | Major California city that served as the base of operations for Norwin Meneses's cocaine trafficking network, the site of the Frogman Case, and the location of key DEA and FBI offices investigating Contra drug trafficking. | | [[San Jose]] | San Jose, California was the home of the San Jose Mercury News, which published the Dark Alliance series, and a secondary market for Contra-connected cocaine distribution. | | [[San Salvador]] | San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, hosted Ilopango Air Base, the central hub for CIA and Oliver North's Contra resupply operations and a key transshipment point for cocaine during the 1980s. | | [[South Central Los Angeles]] | Region of Los Angeles that was the epicenter of the crack cocaine explosion in the early 1980s, where Danilo Blandón's Contra-connected cocaine was converted to crack and distributed by Ricky Ross's network. | | [[Tegucigalpa]] | Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, was the headquarters of the FDN Contra army and a key operational center for CIA-backed covert operations during the 1980s. | | [[Washington, D.C.]] | Washington, D.C. was the command center for the Reagan administration's Contra policies and the destination for DEA reports on Contra-connected drug trafficking that were ignored or suppressed. | --- ## U.S. States American states referenced in intelligence operations and research. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[Arkansas]] | Arkansas, particularly the small town of Mena, served as the base of operations for CIA-DEA contract agent Barry Seal's massive cocaine and weapons smuggling operation during the early to mid-1980s. | | [[California]] | Most populous U.S. state, home to San Francisco and Los Angeles, the two primary centers of Contra-connected cocaine trafficking by Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandón during the 1980s. | | [[Florida]] | Florida served as a major hub for both cocaine trafficking and Contra political activity during the 1980s, with Miami functioning as the primary center of operations. | | [[Indiana]] | Indiana was where Gary Webb was attending a party when the Dark Alliance series was published online on August 18, 1996. | | [[Louisiana]] | Louisiana was a primary drop zone for Barry Seal's cocaine airdrops and a destination for Contra-connected drug flights through the southern United States. | | [[Texas]] | Texas served as a transit corridor for Contra-connected cocaine shipments, with airfields and border crossings used to move drugs into the United States. | --- ## Military Installations Military bases, airfields, and defense facilities. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[Fort Benning]] | Fort Benning was a U.S. Army base in Georgia where hundreds of Nicaraguan National Guard officers received military training that prepared them for roles in both the Somoza regime and the Contra army. | | [[Fort Gulick]] | Fort Gulick was a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone where hundreds of Nicaraguan National Guard officers were trained in counterinsurgency and intelligence techniques. | | [[Fort Leavenworth]] | Fort Leavenworth was a U.S. Army base in Kansas where Nicaraguan National Guard officers received advanced military training, producing the leadership cadre of the Contra army. | | [[Fort Meade]] | Fort Meade (officially Fort George G. Meade) is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, approximately twenty-five miles northeast of Washington, D.C. It is a sprawling, town-like base that houses, among other things, the NSA, the U.S. | | [[Homestead Air Force Base]] | Homestead Air Force Base in Florida was where the Somoza family fled into exile in 1979, and was later identified as a landing site for Contra-connected drug flights. | | [[Ilopango Airbase]] | Salvadoran military air base that served as the hub for Oliver North's illegal Contra resupply operation and a center for Contra-connected cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. | | [[Marana]] | Marana is a Central Intelligence Agency airbase located near Tucson, Arizona. It served as a collection point for weapons purchased by the USA government for transfer to Israel and subsequently to Iran.[^1] | | [[Mena, Arkansas]] | Small Arkansas town where Barry Seal based drug-smuggling and weapons operations at Intermountain Regional Airport during the Contra war. | | [[Opa Locka]] | Opa Locka was a location in the Miami area connected to Contra operations and aircraft used in the drug trafficking and weapons supply network. | | [[Soto Cano Air Base]] | The Soto Cano Air Base, also commonly known as Palmerola Air Base, is a joint Honduras and United States military base located near Comayagua in Honduras, approximately 60 miles (97 km) from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. | | [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] | Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base located in Ohio. It is a key center for aerospace research and development, and has been involved in various classified projects, including those related to psychic phenomena.[^1] | --- ## Regions Geographic regions and areas spanning multiple countries. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[Golden Triangle]] | The Golden Triangle is a region in Southeast Asia, primarily encompassing parts of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, historically known as one of the world's largest opium-producing areas. | --- ## Landmarks Specific buildings, sites, and locations of interest. | Name | Description | | --- | --- | | [[El Aqsa Mosque]] | The El Aqsa Mosque is located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, considered by Muslims to be the holiest place after Mecca and Medina. | | [[Entebbe Airport]] | Entebbe Airport is located in Uganda. It was the site of the 1976 Entebbe hijacking, where an Air France jet was diverted and landed. The hijacking led to a commando raid by Israel forces to rescue the hostages.[^1] | | [[Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon]] | Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon is a kibbutz in Israel. In 1969, Ari Ben-Menashe joined this kibbutz after he could not be drafted into the Israel army due to his Iran passport. While there, he studied Hebrew and performed volunteer work.[^1] | | [[Royal Zoute Golf Club]] | The Royal Zoute Golf Club was an exclusive golf club in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, patronised by nobles and business elites with ties to the bank Societe Generale. | | [[Sabra and Shatila refugee camps]] | The Sabra and Shatila refugee camps are located in Beirut, Lebanon. They were the site of the Sabra and Shatila massacres in September 1982, where Lebanese Christian militias carried out killings while the camps were surrounded by Israel troops.[^1] | | [[Skinwalker Ranch]] | Skinwalker Ranch is a 480-acre property in Utah known for a long history of paranormal and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena-related events. | | [[Stoke Lodge]] | Stoke Lodge was the Australian High Commissioner's residence in Kensington, London. Sir Gordon Freeth served as Australian High Commissioner while residing there. Martin Allen, aged 15, disappeared in November 1979. | | [[Syrian Embassy in London]] | The Syrian Embassy in London was implicated in a 1986 plot to bomb an El Al plane, orchestrated by Rafi Eitan to discredit Syria. | | [[U.S. Embassy in Moscow]] | The U.S. Embassy in Moscow was the diplomatic mission of the United States to the Soviet Union (and later Russia). It became a focal point of Cold War espionage and a significant location in the history of U.S. | | [[Walton Hop Disco]] | The Walton Hop Disco was an underage nightclub that served as a procurement center for a suspected pedophile ring involving BBC celebrities during the 1970s and 1980s. | --- ## Stats | category | Count | | --- | --- | | Country | 49 | | City | 30 | | Military Installation | 11 | | Landmark | 10 | | U.S. State | 6 | | Region | 1 |