---
category: Region
summary: The Caribbean was a key transit zone for cocaine shipments moving from South
  America through the Bahamas, Panama, and Costa Rica to the United States during
  the Contra war.
tags:
- geography
- region
- contra-war
---

The Caribbean was a key transit zone for [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) shipments moving from [South America](/places/south-america/) through the [Bahamas](/places/bahamas/), [Panama](/places/panama/), and [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/) to the [United States](/places/united-states/) during the Contra war. The region's geography, with its numerous islands and porous coastlines, made it ideal for drug smuggling operations.[^1]

### Trafficking Routes

[Noriega](/people/manuel-noriega/)'s pilots flew drugs through two routes north: one through [Mexico](/places/mexico/) for the West Coast market, and the other through the Bahamas for the East Coast's cocaine buyers. [Pablo Escobar](/people/pablo-escobar/)'s associate Carlos Lehder set up shop in the Bahamas, buying an island where drug planes from [Colombia](/places/colombia/) could land, refuel, and wait for the right moment to fly into the United States. The Caribbean transit zone was integral to the Contra-connected drug pipeline.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 5.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 5, Ch. 14.