---
category: U.S. Government
summary: The U.S. government, through the CIA, NSC, and State Department, orchestrated
  support for the Contra war while simultaneously protecting Contra-connected drug
  traffickers from prosecution.
tags:
- organization
- u.s.-government
- contra-war
---

The U.S. government, through the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), [National Security Council](/organizations/national-security-council/), and [State Department](/organizations/state-department/), orchestrated support for the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) war while simultaneously protecting Contra-connected drug traffickers from prosecution. The contradiction between the government's public anti-drug stance and its covert protection of drug-running allies was the central theme of the [Dark Alliance](/events/dark-alliance/) investigation.[^1]

### The Dual Policy

While the [Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) administration waged a public "War on Drugs" and Ronald Reagan and [George H.W. Bush](/people/george-hw-bush/) whipped the public into a frenzy over crack dealers, the CIA and NSC were facilitating cocaine trafficking by Contra-connected networks. The government used the [DEA](/organizations/dea/) and [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) to investigate street-level dealers while shielding Contra traffickers from prosecution. When [Celerino Castillo](/people/celerino-castillo/) sent reports to DEA headquarters about Contra pilots smuggling drugs, they disappeared into a "bureaucratic black hole." The secret 1982 Memorandum of Understanding between CIA Director William Casey and Attorney General William French Smith exempted CIA assets from drug crimes reporting for thirteen years.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Prologue.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 15, Epilogue.