---
category: Private Organization
location: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
start: 1981
summary: SETCO was a Honduran air freight company owned by drug kingpin Juan Matta
  Ballesteros that served as the principal transportation provider for the FDN Contra
  army.
tags:
- organization
- corporate
- contra-war
---

SETCO was a Honduran air freight company owned by drug kingpin [Juan Matta Ballesteros](/people/juan-matta-ballesteros/) that served as the principal transportation provider for the [FDN](/organizations/fdn/) Contra army. Despite the [U.S. Customs](/organizations/us-customs/) Service knowing about Matta's drug trafficking since 1983, SETCO continued to receive contracts for Contra supply missions.[^1]

### The Contra's Principal Airline

The [Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office](/organizations/nhao/) hired SETCO to transport supplies and personnel for the FDN. [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) also used SETCO for airdrops of military supplies to Contra forces inside [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/). The CIA's Inspector General reported that "SETCO was the principal company used by the Contras in [Honduras](/places/honduras/) to transport supplies and personnel for the FDN." Pilot Robert Moss flew FDN supply missions for both SETCO and Hondu Carib, a company operated by FDN leader Adolfo Calero's brother Mario. The arrangement placed the Contra supply chain directly in the hands of one of [Central America](/places/central-america/)'s biggest drug traffickers.[^2]

[^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. 7, Ch. 14.