---
born: 1945
category: Iran-Contra
died: 2025
location: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
summary: Juan Matta Ballesteros was Honduras's biggest drug trafficker whose air cargo
  company SETCO was the principal transportation provider for the Contra army.
tags:
- person
- honduran
- contra-war
---

Juan Matta Ballesteros was [Honduras](/places/honduras/)'s biggest drug trafficker whose air cargo company [SETCO](/organizations/setco/) was the principal transportation provider for the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) army. The [U.S. Customs](/organizations/us-customs/) Service had known about Matta's drug trafficking since 1983, but his company continued to receive U.S. government contracts for Contra supply missions.[^1]

### SETCO and the Contra Supply Chain

The [Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO)](/organizations/nhao/) hired SETCO to transport supplies and personnel for the [FDN](/organizations/fdn/). [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) also used SETCO for airdrops of military supplies to Contra forces inside [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/). Pilot Robert Moss flew FDN supply missions for both Hondu Carib, a company operated by FDN leader [Adolfo Calero](/people/adolfo-calero/)'s brother, and SETCO. The use of a drug kingpin's company as the primary Contra transportation provider demonstrated the direct overlap between narcotics trafficking and the U.S.-backed war.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7, Ch. 14.