Henry Corrales
Nicaraguan cocaine trafficker who served as the intermediary between Danilo Blandón and Ricky Ross after Ivan Arguellas was paralyzed.
Henry Corrales was a Nicaraguan exile and cocaine trafficker who served as the intermediary between Danilo Blandón and "Freeway" Ricky Ross, becoming Ross's second supplier after Ivan Arguellas was paralyzed.1 Corrales was Ivan Arguellas's brother-in-law and took over the business when Ivan was hospitalized.
Taking Over Ivan's Business
When Ivan Arguellas was shot by his wife and paralyzed from the waist down, Corrales stepped in to run the cocaine business. But Corrales was an amateur. "Henry was kind of a knucklehead," Ross recalled. "He was a nice guy who just wanted to party all the time. He didn't know what he was doing." Blandón confirmed: "When he [Ivan] got in the accident, it started Henry Corrales getting in [the business]. Henry was running the business because his brother-in-law was in the hospital. And when the guy that got paralyzed get in the hospital, he lost that [cocaine] contact. And Henry didn't have any contact more than me when he took over."1
Corrales had no cocaine sources of his own, so when Blandón came by to offer help, Corrales accepted gratefully. "When he doesn't have any sources, [he] asked to me and that's when we began the relationship with him," Blandón said. Corrales agreed to split profits fifty-fifty on every kilo sold. Blandón sold to Corrales, and Corrales sold to Ross. Ross said his prices fell again under the new arrangement: "After we started dealing with Henry, it got even better."1
Growing Paranoia
By late 1982 or early 1983, Corrales had gone from selling Ross ounces to selling him kilograms. Blandón estimated selling 10 to 15 kilos a week to Corrales for Ross, roughly 50 kilos a month. The volume terrified the novice dealer. "He was selling him so often he was getting so paranoid, you know?" Blandón said. "Somebody from his organization was in jail... He told me, 'I've got $200,000, $300,000, I'm going to leave.'"1
Corrales planned to retire to Honduras but first offered to introduce Blandón directly to Ross - for a continuing cut of the profits. "He wanted to leave to Honduras, be there and get some commission," Blandón said. "He wanted that I give some commission to him, you know? That was the proposal." Blandón agreed, and Corrales took him to South Central L.A. to meet Ross in person. The meeting took place "right in front of the house of Mary," Blandón said, referring to Mary Monroe, a friend and employee of Ross. After the introduction, Ross's prices fell yet again: "After we started talking directly with Danilo, I mean the price was just... everybody was saying it was the bottom."1
Sources
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 8: "A million hits is not enough" ↩
Local network
Henry Corrales's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.