---
category: Iran-Contra
summary: Mario Calero was the brother of FDN leader Adolfo Calero who operated air
  cargo companies used for Contra supply missions and cocaine smuggling.
tags:
- person
- honduran
- contra-war
---

Mario Calero was the brother of [FDN](/organizations/fdn/) leader [Adolfo Calero](/people/adolfo-calero/) who operated air cargo companies used for Contra supply missions and [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) smuggling. Mario ran [Hondu Carib Cargo](/organizations/hondu-carib-cargo/) Inc., which the FDN hired to transport supplies, blurring the line between legitimate logistics and drug trafficking.[^1]

### Hondu Carib Cargo

[Barry Seal](/people/barry-seal/)'s farm in [Baton Rouge, Louisiana](/places/baton-rouge-louisiana/), was allegedly used as a drop site for cocaine and marijuana flown in aboard a DC-4 aircraft, N90201. That same plane subsequently turned up flying supplies for the Contras in 1985 through Hondu Carib Cargo Inc., which [Mario Calero](/people/mario-calero/) operated. Robert Owen reported to [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) that a DC-6 owned by Mario Calero, "which is being used for runs out of [New Orleans](/places/new-orleans/) is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." The overlap between Mario's cargo companies and his brother's leadership of the FDN illustrated the family nature of the Contra-connected drug trade.[^2]

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