Juan Rafael Bustillo
Juan Rafael Bustillo was the Salvadoran Air Force commander who provided hangar space at Ilopango Air Base for Felix Rodriguez's Contra resupply operation.
Juan Rafael Bustillo was the Salvadoran Air Force commander who provided hangar space at Ilopango Air Base for 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 trafficking operation at the base in El 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 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 and narcotics back to the United States, with flights carrying cocaine from Hangar No. 4 to Miami.2
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