New Orleans

New Orleans served as a Cocaine entry point for Contra-connected flights and was where Central Intelligence Agency-DEA contract agent 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 to the Contra supply chain.¹

Contra Cocaine Flights

The Torres brothers described airfields in New Orleans and Brownsville, Texas, where Contra cocaine was allegedly being flown in under armed guard. Robert Owen reported to Oliver North that a DC-6 owned by Mario Calero, brother of FDN leader 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 were the same aircraft returning with narcotics.²

Meneses as a Source

The New Orleans DEA determined that 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 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