---
aliases:
- New Orleans, Louisiana
category: City
summary: New Orleans served as a cocaine entry point for Contra-connected flights
  and was where Barry Seal was murdered by Colombian hit men in 1986.
tags:
- geography
- contra-war
---

New Orleans served as a [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) entry point for Contra-connected flights and was where [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)-[DEA](/organizations/dea/) contract agent [Barry Seal](/people/barry-seal/) was murdered by Colombian hit men in 1986. The city's port and airfield infrastructure made it a key node in the Southern drug trafficking corridor that connected the [Medellín Cartel](/organizations/medellin-cartel/) to the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) supply chain.[^1]

### Contra Cocaine Flights

The Torres brothers described airfields in [New Orleans](/places/new-orleans/) and Brownsville, [Texas](/places/texas/), where Contra cocaine was allegedly being flown in under armed guard. Robert Owen reported to [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) that a DC-6 owned by [Mario Calero](/people/mario-calero/), brother of [FDN](/organizations/fdn/) leader [Adolfo Calero](/people/adolfo-calero/), "which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." The planes moving weapons to the Contras in [Central America](/places/central-america/) were the same aircraft returning with narcotics.[^2]

### Meneses as a Source

The New Orleans DEA determined that [Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) was responsible for smuggling cocaine into the city. The DEA's "Operation Alligator" resulted in the indictment of numerous persons for smuggling cocaine, and it was determined that Meneses was a source of supply for the group. The operation confirmed that Meneses's trafficking network extended well beyond the West Coast.[^3]

### Barry Seal's Murder

Seal, who had been one of the biggest cocaine importers in the southern [United States](/places/united-states/) while working as a CIA and DEA contract agent, was murdered in New Orleans in 1986 by Colombian hit men shortly after his testimony in a drug trial. His assassination eliminated a key witness who could have connected the CIA's Contra operations to domestic drug trafficking.[^4]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters.
[^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. 3.
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters.