---
category: City
summary: San Bernardino was a Southern California city where the Blandón-Meneses cocaine
  network distributed drugs, extending the Contra-connected trafficking operation
  beyond Los Angeles.
tags:
- geography
- u.s.-city
- contra-war
---

San Bernardino was a Southern [California](/places/california/) city where the [Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/)-[Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) network distributed drugs, extending the [Contra](/organizations/contras/)-connected trafficking operation beyond [Los Angeles](/places/los-angeles/). The city was part of the broader distribution network that moved Contra-connected cocaine throughout the Southland.[^1]

### Distribution Network

["Freeway" Ricky Ross](/people/ricky-ross/)'s cocaine distribution operation, supplied by Blandón's Contra-connected network, extended from [South Central Los Angeles](/places/south-central-los-angeles/) to cities throughout Southern California including San Bernardino. The spread of crack cocaine through these communities was a direct consequence of the Blandón-Meneses trafficking pipeline, which moved thousands of kilos of cocaine into the region during the 1980s.[^2]

[^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.