Robert Nieves
DEA agent who served as Norwin Meneses's control agent in Costa Rica, was accused of drug trafficking by multiple informants, and later rose to head the DEA's International Division before joining Oliver North's company.
Robert Nieves, known as "The Snowman," was the DEA's country attaché in Costa Rica during the Contra war and served as Norwin Meneses's control agent. Multiple informants accused him of drug trafficking and protecting cocaine labs, allegations that were never investigated.1
Meneses Handler
As the top DEA official in Costa Rica, Nieves was Norwin Meneses's control agent throughout the 1980s. Meneses operated freely despite being known to the DEA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Costa Rican authorities as a major drug trafficker. Under Nieves's watch, Meneses's business "expanded terrifically," according to associate Rafael Cornejo.1
Kelso Investigation
In 1986, Joseph Kelso, a Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Customs informant, gathered testimony from six witnesses - current and former Costa Rican and American officials—willing to testify that DEA agents in Costa Rica were skimming cocaine from seizures, making counterfeit money, sanitizing intelligence reports, and protecting cocaine labs, including on Contra bases. Costa Rican narcotics official Warren Treece reported cocaine lab locations to Sandalio Gonzalez but said they were not investigated because of leaks from the DEA agent. When the investigation was exposed, Nieves had Kelso arrested and screamed: "You're a dead son-of-a-bitch. . .We're going to blow your fucking head off!" Costa Rican police confirmed the threats. Nieves told the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion he was angry that Customs was investigating a DEA matter. Ambassador Lewis Tambs had Kelso deported.1
Costa Rican attorney Gloria Navas, a former prosecutor and judge, concluded: "In my opinion, both Nieves and Sandy Gonzalez were connected with the CIA. There is no doubt. You aren't going to find hard evidence because these were covert operations. But I did my own investigations and you can't come to any other conclusion."1
Cover-Up
Evidence tapes from Kelso's investigation were turned over to Oliver North via Robert Owen, who threw them away when the Iran-Contra Affair broke. The DEA never investigated the allegations. DEA director Jack Lawn told Congress in 1987 he had never heard of the case. Former Iran-Contra Committee attorney Pam Naughton said: "Sometimes the lines really got blurred when you were working for Oliver North. He was using DEA agents in Europe as CIA. I mean, they were doing activities that were way beyond the scope of the DEA."1
Career After Costa Rica
Nieves rose through the DEA to become head of cocaine investigations in Washington, then chief of major investigations, and finally chief of the DEA's International Division before retiring in late 1995. He then went to work for Guardian Technologies, a body armor company in Virginia owned by Oliver North and former CIA Costa Rica station chief Joseph Fernandez.1
Resignation
Nieves unexpectedly resigned as chief of the DEA's International Division in late October 1995, eight days after Gary Webb met with DEA agents in San Diego to discuss his Dark Alliance investigation. Webb discovered that Craig Chretien, the Special Agent in Charge who had hosted the meeting, was selected to replace Nieves and was transferred to Washington.2
Sources
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off" ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 25: "Things are moving all around us" ↩
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