---
category: U.S. Government
summary: U.S. federal law enforcement agency responsible for border protection and
  customs enforcement that investigated Contra-connected cocaine trafficking through
  informants including Joseph Kelso.
tags:
- Organization
- Government
- United_States
- Contra_War
- 1980s
---

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (U.S. Customs) is a federal law enforcement agency responsible for protecting the borders of the [United States](/places/united-states/).[^1]

### Contra War Role

[Joseph Kelso](/people/joseph-kelso/), a [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) and U.S. Customs informant, gathered testimony from six witnesses willing to testify that [DEA](/organizations/dea/) agents in [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/) were skimming cocaine from seizures, making counterfeit money, and protecting cocaine labs on Contra bases. When Kelso's investigation was exposed, [Robert Owen](/people/robert-owen/), serving as a conduit for [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/), had Kelso arrested. Evidence tapes from Kelso's investigation were turned over to North via Owen, who threw them away when the [Iran-Contra Affair](/events/iran-contra-affair/) broke.[^2]

### Flowchart Analysis

The U.S. Customs Service analyzed a flowchart seized from [Ronald Lister](/people/ronald-lister/)'s home during a 1986 raid, which appeared to diagram an illegal weapons diversion scheme matching the methods used to funnel arms to the [Contras](/organizations/contras/).[[^3]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"