---
category: Iran-Contra
died: 1993
summary: Wealthy Somoza-era landowner who became the head of supplies and logistics
  for the FDN, went on the CIA payroll, and allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine
  money from the Meneses drug ring in California.
tags:
- Person
- Contra
- Nicaragua
- 1980s
- Dark_Alliance_Investigation
---

Aristides Sanchez was a wealthy landowner under [Somoza](/people/anastasio-somoza/) who became the head of supplies and logistics for the [FDN](/organizations/fdn/). He went on the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) payroll in the early 1980s as an aide to [Enrique Bermudez](/people/enrique-bermudez/) and allegedly served as the conduit for [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) money flowing from the [Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) drug ring in [California](/places/california/).[^1] He died in [Miami](/places/miami/) in 1993.[^1]

### Family Connections to the Meneses Network

Sanchez was a close friend of Norwin Meneses. His brother Fernando Sanchez had been Somoza's last ambassador to [Guatemala](/places/guatemala/) after [Edmundo Meneses](/people/edmundo-meneses/) was assassinated. Another brother, [Troilo Sanchez](/people/troilo-sanchez/), was one of Norwin Meneses's friends and business partners in [Managua](/places/managua/). Yet another brother, Enrique Sanchez, was partners in a Miami restaurant with Donald Barrios, the man [Danilo Blandon](/people/danilo-blandon/) claims introduced him to Norwin Meneses.[^2]

Norwin Meneses stated: "I dealt directly with Bermadez, and occasionally his assistant on minor things. I also worked with Aristides Sanchez. He was a very good friend of mine."[^2]

[Carlos Cabezas](/people/carlos-cabezas/) told the CIA that "he never specifically told Aristides Sanchez that the money came from drug proceeds but only that it was from Troilo. Cabezas said he assumed Aristides Sanchez must have known what Troilo was involved in."[^3] Other Contras certainly did. Former Contra official Leonardo Zeledon Rodriguez told UPI in 1986 that "Troilo sold 200 pounds of cocaine and received $6.1 million for it."[^3]

### Role in the FDN

The CIA selected Sanchez to assist Enrique Bermudez in running the FDN after the August 1981 merger that created the organization.[^2] He went on the CIA payroll and reported daily to his CIA overseers. Together with Bermudez, Sanchez became the heart and soul of the military side of the Contra organization. The political side was left to CIA agent [Adolfo Calero](/people/adolfo-calero/), who also worked closely with Sanchez. [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) later called Sanchez "Calero's hatchet man."[^2]

Sanchez became one of the Contras' top political and military strategists, plotting logistics, buying supplies, and delivering weapons, as the [Miami Herald](/organizations/miami-herald/) reported in his 1993 obituary.[^2] Throughout the 1980s he was consistently described in the press as the Contras' supply chief.

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 4: "I never sent cash"
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"