---
category: Country
summary: The United States was the destination for Contra-connected cocaine trafficked
  by Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandón, the site of the crack cocaine explosion in
  inner-city neighborhoods, and where the government simultaneously prosecuted the
  War on Drugs while protecting CIA-linked drug traffickers.
tags:
- Geography
- Country
- North_America
- Contra_War
- 1980s
- Dark_Alliance_Investigation
---

The United States was the destination for thousands of tons of [cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) trafficked through CIA-connected networks during the Contra war, and the site of the [crack](/concepts/crack-cocaine/) epidemic that devastated inner-city communities.[^1]

### Contra Cocaine Pipeline

[Norwin Meneses](/people/norwin-meneses/) and [Danilo Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/) operated a cocaine distribution network that moved drugs from [Colombia](/places/colombia/) through [Central America](/places/central-america/) into the [United States](/places/united-states/). Blandón was the first major trafficker to establish a direct connection between Colombian cocaine sources and [South Central L.A.](/places/south-central-los-angeles/) street gangs. [Ricky Ross](/people/ricky-ross/) then distributed the cocaine nationwide through the [Crips](/organizations/crips/) and Bloods networks.[^2]

### Secret 1982 Agreement

From 1982 to 1995, the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) and the [Justice Department](/organizations/department-of-justice/) operated under a secret agreement that exempted CIA assets from drug crimes reporting requirements. During this period, the government could assert there was "no evidence" of CIA-connected drug trafficking because no one was legally required to report it. CIA Inspector General [Fred Hitz](/people/fred-hitz/) testified before Congress that the CIA "did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity," including trafficking within the United States.[^3]

### Law Enforcement

Federal agencies including the [DEA](/organizations/dea/), [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/), and [U.S. Customs](/organizations/us-customs/) possessed extensive intelligence about Contra-connected drug trafficking but were prevented from acting on it. Multiple investigations were shut down, evidence was destroyed, and informants were discredited or imprisoned.[^4]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Prologue: "It was like they didn't want to know"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Epilogue: "The damage that has been done"
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 9: "He would have had me by the tail"