---
born: 1935-01-31
category: Iran-Contra
location: El Salvador
summary: Juan Rafael Bustillo was the Salvadoran Air Force commander who provided
  hangar space at Ilopango Air Base for Felix Rodriguez's Contra resupply operation.
tags:
- person
- colombian
- contra-war
---

Juan Rafael Bustillo was the Salvadoran Air Force commander who provided hangar space at Ilopango Air Base for [Felix Rodriguez](/people/felix-rodriguez/)'s Contra resupply operation. Rodriguez "greased the skids" with Bustillo, using his influence to secure the facilities needed for the covert weapons and [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) trafficking operation at the base in [El Salvador](/places/san-salvador/).[^1]

### Ilopango Operations

Bustillo's cooperation was essential to the Contra resupply operation at Ilopango. By providing military hangar space, he enabled the CIA and [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) to use the Salvadoran military air base as the hub for their covert air force. The arrangement placed a foreign military commander at the center of an operation that moved weapons to the [Contras](/organizations/contras/) and narcotics back to the [United States](/places/united-states/), with flights carrying cocaine from Hangar No. 4 to [Miami](/places/miami/).[^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.