---
aliases:
- Freedom of Information Act
- FOIA
category: Intelligence Scandal
created: 2026-05-17
location: United States
start: 1966-07-04
summary: The Freedom of Information Act was used by Gary Webb to obtain government
  documents that revealed the CIA and DEA's knowledge of Contra-connected drug trafficking.
tags:
- Law
- USGovernment
- ContraWar
title: Freedom of Information Act
updated: 2026-05-17
---

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was used by [Gary Webb](/people/gary-webb/) to obtain government documents that revealed the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) and [DEA](/organizations/dea/)'s knowledge of Contra-connected drug trafficking. Webb's FOIA requests produced thousands of pages of previously classified documents that formed the evidentiary backbone of the [Dark Alliance](/events/dark-alliance/) series.[^1]

### Document Discovery

Webb filed FOIA requests with multiple federal agencies to obtain records about [Danilo Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/), [Norwin Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/), and their connections to the Contra war. The documents he received confirmed that federal law enforcement agencies had been aware of the Blandón-Meneses cocaine trafficking network for years but had failed to prosecute or disrupt it. The FOIA-obtained records included DEA reports, CIA cables, FBI files, and court documents that corroborated the testimony of witnesses and filled in gaps in the narrative.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 1.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 1.