---
category: Iran-Contra
summary: Carlos Amador was a pilot who planned to fly into Ilopango Air Base to pick
  up cocaine from Hangar No. 4 and transport it to Miami, according to a DEA cable.
tags:
- person
- colombian
- contra-war
---

Carlos Amador was a pilot who planned to fly into [Ilopango Airbase](/places/ilopango-airbase/) to pick up [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) from Hangar No. 4 and transport it to [Miami](/places/miami/), according to a March 1986 [DEA](/organizations/dea/) cable. Amador's planned flight provided direct evidence of the drug trafficking operation at the base where [Felix Rodriguez](/people/felix-rodriguez/) and [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) managed the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) resupply effort.[^1]

### The Ilopango Connection

DEA agent [Celerino Castillo III](/people/celerino-castillo/), based in [Guatemala City](/places/guatemala-city/), received reports that Amador "was intending to fly into Ilopango, pick up cocaine at Hangar No. 4, and take it to Miami." When Castillo's investigation escalated, the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) station in [El Salvador](/places/el-salvador/) sent a desperate message to [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/) Station advising the DEA not to make inquiries about anyone at Hangar No. 4. Amador's case illustrated how the CIA's Contra supply operation and the cocaine trade used the same facilities and infrastructure.[^2]

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