---
category: U.S. State
summary: Texas served as a transit corridor for Contra-connected cocaine shipments,
  with airfields and border crossings used to move drugs into the United States.
tags:
- geography
- contra-war
---

Texas served as a transit corridor for Contra-connected [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) shipments, with airfields and border crossings used to move drugs into the [United States](/places/united-states/). The state's long border with [Mexico](/places/mexico/) and its network of airfields made it a key entry point for narcotics flowing north from [Central](/places/central-america/) and [South America](/places/south-america/).[^1]

### Contra Cocaine Routes

[Enrique Miranda](/people/enrique-miranda/) testified that [Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) "had on his payroll a series of American pilots and had taken charge of a control tower in the state of Texas." Norwin's cargo planes, based in [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/), had established flight plans to haul commercial goods to Texas as cover for drug shipments. Cars filled with cocaine-loaded PVC pipes were driven across the border in Texas or [California](/places/california/). The Torres brothers described airfields in [New Orleans](/places/new-orleans/) and Brownsville, Texas, where Contra cocaine was allegedly being flown in under armed guard.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 16.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 16, Ch. 17.