---
category: Iran-Contra
summary: Socrates Sofi-Perez was a Cuban Bay of Pigs veteran and DEA informant who
  described the Contra drug trafficking scheme at Ilopango Air Base to Celerino Castillo.
tags:
- person
- cuban
- contra-war
---

Socrates Sofi-Perez was a Cuban [Bay of Pigs](/events/bay-of-pigs/) veteran and [DEA](/organizations/dea/) informant who described the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) drug trafficking scheme at Ilopango Air Base to [Celerino Castillo III](/people/celerino-castillo/). Sofi-Perez proudly informed Castillo that he was a Bay of Pigs veteran and a Contra supporter while detailing how drug flights operated from the base in [El Salvador](/places/san-salvador/).[^1]

### Informant for Castillo

Castillo recruited Sofi-Perez as an informant while based in [Guatemala City](/places/guatemala-city/). Sofi-Perez provided detailed information about the Contra drug operation at Ilopango, where pilots flew weapons south to the Contras and returned with [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/). His testimony as a Bay of Pigs veteran and Contra insider gave credibility to Castillo's reports to DEA headquarters, which were subsequently ignored. Sofi-Perez's account was among the earliest detailed descriptions of the drug trafficking operation at Ilopango Air Base that the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) and [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) were running.[^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.