Georg Hodel

Georg Hodel was a Swiss freelance journalist based in Managua, Nicaragua, whom Gary Webb hired to locate and interview Norwin Meneses during the Dark Alliance investigation.¹

Discovery of the Meneses Court Files

Hodel found the massive files of Meneses's 1992 court case in the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, a cache that had never before been examined by a journalist. "The clerk says I am the first journalist ever to ask to see those files, can you imagine?" Hodel told Webb. "All the stories written about this case, and not one of those reporters ever looked at the files." Hodel had a journalism student named Leonor Delgado create an index of the documents, which contained what Hodel described as "some peculiar things."¹

Confirmation of Contra Drug Links

Hodel confirmed the tip that had started Webb's investigation, verifying that Danilo Blandón and Norwin Meneses were friends, business partners, and Contra founders whose families were close to the Somoza regime. He checked the information with former Contra commander Eden Pastora, former Contra lawyer Carlos Icaza, and others who knew both men. Hodel also confirmed that Meneses's chief aide, Enrique Miranda, had admitted at trial that Meneses sold cocaine for the Contras, flying it out of an air base in El Salvador into a military airfield in Texas.¹

Interview with Miranda

Hodel attempted to arrange interviews with both Meneses and Enrique Miranda, filing a request with the Nicaraguan Ministry of the Interior. He discovered that Miranda had "escaped" from prison on the same day Hodel made his interview request. Prison officials claimed Miranda had gone on a weekend furlough and never returned, calling it "extremely out of character" for a model inmate with little time remaining on his sentence. Hodel drove to the police station to inquire about the manhunt, only to learn that police had not been notified of the escape. Hodel's discovery became front-page news in all the Managua papers and triggered official investigations. His sources later told him Miranda was in Miami and that the DEA had gotten him out of the country.¹

Arranging the Meneses Interview

Despite the obstacles, Hodel secured Meneses's agreement to talk, clearing it through the drug kingpin's wives and lawyers. He urged Webb to come to Nicaragua quickly and warned that something about the story was giving him a sense of unease. "I can't say what it is, but things are moving all around us," Hodel said nervously.¹

Follow-Up Reporting

After the Dark Alliance series was published in August 1996, Hodel and Webb flew to Costa Rica and Nicaragua to gather additional evidence. In December 1996, Hodel located Carlos Cabezas, a former Meneses drug ring member, who admitted on the record to delivering millions of dollars in drug money to the Contras and identified CIA agent Ivan Gómez as having direct knowledge. "We've got it," Hodel told Webb. "Cabezas is willing to talk on the record." A week later, Hodel found Enrique Miranda, who had been captured in Miami and returned to Nicaragua. Miranda provided additional details about Meneses's relationship with the CIA and the Contras. "We didn't know how right we were," Hodel said.²

Death Threats and Departure

Hodel began receiving death threats in Nicaragua. His wife's law office was burglarized and ransacked twice, the power lines to his house were cut, and his brother-in-law was threatened by armed thugs. Hodel decided to leave the country, taking his wife to his native Switzerland.²