---
category: Private Organization
location: Miami, Florida
summary: DIACSA was a Miami aircraft company run by a Cuban Bay of Pigs veteran that
  served as a cover company for the Costa Rican Contras and a hub for plotting drug
  flights and laundering cocaine profits.
tags:
- organization
- corporate
- contra-war
---

DIACSA was a [Miami](/places/miami/) aircraft company run by Cuban [Bay of Pigs](/events/bay-of-pigs/) veteran Alfredo Caballero that served as a cover company for the Costa Rican [Contras](/organizations/contras/) and a hub for plotting drug flights and laundering [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) profits. A 1985 [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) cable described DIACSA as the "cover company" used by the Costa Rican Contras to secretly buy aircraft.[^1]

### Drug Smuggling Operations

[Floyd Carlton](/people/floyd-carlton/), a Panamanian pilot working with [Noriega](/people/manuel-noriega/), had used DIACSA for years as the U.S. headquarters for his Panamanian drug-smuggling venture. Carlton admitted that he and his partners plotted their drug flights and arranged the laundering of their cocaine profits in DIACSA's offices. The company's dual function as both a legitimate aviation business and a narcotics smuggling hub exemplified the overlap between Contra logistics and drug trafficking in [Florida](/places/florida/).[^2]

### CIA Connections

DIACSA's operator, Alfredo Caballero, was a Cuban drug dealer who had been part of the CIA's [Bay of Pigs operation](/events/bay-of-pigs/). His background was typical of the Cuban exile operatives the CIA recruited for Contra work, combining anti-Communist credentials with experience in drug trafficking and covert operations. DIACSA's role as a CIA-designated cover company demonstrated how the Agency's covert procurement infrastructure was integrated with the drug trade.[^3]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.