---
category: Country
summary: Bolivia was a primary source country for the cocaine that flowed through
  the Contra-connected trafficking networks, with the politically connected Suarez
  family supplying the Blandón-Meneses drug ring.
tags:
- geography
- south-america
- contra-war
---

Bolivia was a primary source country for the [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) that flowed through the [Contra](/organizations/contras/)-connected trafficking networks, with the politically connected Suarez family supplying the [Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/)-[Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) drug ring. A 1990 [DEA](/organizations/dea/) report stated that the ring was "a criminal organization that operates internationally from [Colombia](/places/colombia/) and Bolivia, through the [Bahamas](/places/bahamas/), [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/), or [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/) to the [United States](/places/united-states/)." The Bolivian cocaine was coming into [Miami](/places/miami/) before being distributed to the West Coast.[^1]

### The Suarez Connection

The Blandón-Meneses ring sourced its cocaine from the Suarez family in Bolivia and the Ochoa family in Colombia, founders of the [Medellín Cartel](/organizations/medellin-cartel/). [Roger Sandino](/people/roger-sandino/) was busted in April 1986 as part of the biggest cocaine case on the Atlantic Coast, when DEA agents in Norfolk, Virginia, charged him and fourteen others, including the son-in-law of Bolivian cocaine kingpin Roberto Suarez-Gomez, with conspiracy to import 700 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $158 million. The DEA brought the cocaine into the United States from Bolivia to use as bait in a reverse sting.[^2]

### Blandón's Bolivian Deal

Blandón was once stopped at Tegucigalpa airport carrying $100,000 in drug proceeds to be used in a Bolivian drug deal while escorted by armed Contras. The incident illustrated the direct connection between Contra operations and the South American cocaine supply chain.[^3]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 21.
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 3.