---
category: U.S. State
summary: Louisiana was a primary drop zone for Barry Seal's cocaine airdrops and a
  destination for Contra-connected drug flights through the southern United States.
tags:
- geography
- contra-war
---

Louisiana was a primary drop zone for [Barry Seal](/people/barry-seal/)'s cocaine airdrops and a destination for Contra-connected drug flights through the southern United States. The state's rural airfields and proximity to the Gulf Coast made it ideal for the large-scale drug smuggling operations that funded both the [Medellín Cartel](/organizations/medellin-cartel/) and the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) war.[^1]

### Barry Seal's Operations

In the early 1980s, Seal was one of the biggest cocaine and marijuana importers in the southern [United States](/places/united-states/), flying loads in directly for the Medellín Cartel and air-dropping them with pinpoint precision across Louisiana, [Arkansas](/places/arkansas/), and other southern states. A letter from Louisiana's attorney general to U.S. Attorney General [Ed Meese](/people/edwin-meese/) stated that Seal had "smuggled between $3 billion and $5 billion worth of drugs into the U.S." Seal's farm in [Baton Rouge, Louisiana](/places/baton-rouge-louisiana/), was allegedly used as a drop site for cocaine and marijuana flown into the country, according to a 1983 [U.S. Customs](/organizations/us-customs/) report.[^2]

### Noriega's Drug Routes

[Noriega](/people/manuel-noriega/)'s drug ring planes refueled at Contra airstrips in northern [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/) before continuing to the United States and dumping their loads in Louisiana and [Texas](/places/texas/). The state served as a key destination for the Caribbean drug corridor, with [New Orleans](/places/new-orleans/) functioning as both an airfield entry point and a base for Contra-connected cocaine distribution.[^3]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7.
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.