Caribbean

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. The region's geography, with its numerous islands and porous coastlines, made it ideal for drug smuggling operations.¹

Trafficking Routes

Noriega's pilots flew drugs through two routes north: one through Mexico for the West Coast market, and the other through the Bahamas for the East Coast's cocaine buyers. Pablo Escobar's associate Carlos Lehder set up shop in the Bahamas, buying an island where drug planes from 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