Ramon Milian Rodriguez

Ramon Milian Rodriguez was a suave Cuban-American graduate of Santa Clara University who served as the Medellín cartel's money-laundering wizard until his arrest in Miami in 1983, when he and $5 million in cash were taken off a Lear jet bound for Panama. Milian created an interlocking chain of companies to launder the torrents of cash pouring into the cartel's coffers, including Frigorificos de Puntarenas.¹

$10 Million Donation to the Contras

Milian testified before Senator John Kerry's subcommittee in 1987 that he used Frigorificos to launder a $10 million donation from the Medellín cartel to the Contras, arranged by and paid to former CIA agent Felix Rodriguez. Kerry's committee didn't believe the claim, especially after Milian flunked a lie detector test on the question. But during Manuel Noriega's drug trafficking trial several years later, Carlos Lehder, the Medellín cartel's transportation boss, confirmed under oath that the cartel had given the Contras $10 million, just as Milian had testified. Lehder said he arranged the donation himself.¹

Adolfo Calero denied the Contras received such a sum, but as Webb noted, Calero had also denied for many years that the Contras received CIA money or assistance from Oliver North.¹