#Contra
26 entries tagged Contra.
People (20)
- Adolfo Calero Longtime CIA agent and former Coca-Cola bottling plant manager in Managua who was selected by the CIA in 1983 to lead the political wing of the FDN and worked closely with Oliver North.
- Aristides Sanchez Wealthy Somoza-era landowner who became the head of supplies and logistics for the FDN, went on the CIA payroll, and allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine money from the Meneses drug ring in California.
- Carlos Cabezas Nicaraguan cocaine trafficker in San Francisco who testified that drug profits from the Meneses organization were going to the Contras, was convicted in the Frogman Case, and in 1996 admitted on the record to delivering millions in drug money to the Contras.
- Chepita Blandon Danilo Blandón's wife, identified by the DEA as closely involved in his trafficking activities, who was arrested in 1992 and had all charges dropped when her husband agreed to become a DEA informant.
- Danilo Blandon Danilo Blandón Reyes was a Nicaraguan cocaine trafficker who operated a multimillion-dollar distribution ring in Los Angeles from 1981 to 1991, serving as the primary supplier to Freeway Ricky Ross while maintaining connections to the Contra movement and receiving U.S. political asylum despite known drug involvement.
- Dewey Clarridge Chief of the CIA Latin American Division from 1981 to 1984 who oversaw the creation of the Contra project, recruited Contra leaders including Eden Pastora, and was later indicted for perjury during the Iran-Contra investigation.
- Eden Pastora Former Sandinista war hero known as Commandante Zero who became commander of the ARDE Southern Front Contra army in Costa Rica, was put on the CIA payroll, and eventually broke with the agency over drug trafficking.
- Enrique Bermudez Supreme military commander of the FDN and former Somoza military attache in Washington who was hired by the CIA in 1980 to reassemble the National Guard into a Contra fighting force, and was murdered in Managua in 1991.
- Fernando Chamorro Commander of UDN-FARN, an early Contra faction based in Costa Rica, a former Sandinista whose army included Cuban-American drug traffickers, and who was approached by Norwin Meneses about hauling cocaine.
- Fernando Sanchez Former Nicaraguan ambassador to Guatemala and the FDN's representative in that country during the Contra war, identified by the FBI in 1982 as one of the cocaine suppliers to the Contra drug operation in San Francisco and brother of FDN officials Aristides and Troilo Sanchez.
- Francisco Aviles U.S.-educated Nicaraguan lawyer and CIA asset who worked closely with the CIA in Costa Rica funneling funds to Contra organizations and was directly involved in the San Francisco Frogman case.
- Horacio Pereira Norwin Meneses's friend and business partner who became one of his top cocaine dealers in Costa Rica, identified by the FBI as the cocaine source for the Frogman drug ring in San Francisco.
- Hugo Spadafora Dr. Hugo Spadafora was a Panamanian revolutionary doctor and Contra fighter who was tortured and decapitated in September 1985 while attempting to publicly expose Manuel Noriega's cocaine trafficking operations with the Contras.
- Julio Bonilla FDN coordinator in San Francisco who connected Contra supporters with the organization's leadership.
- Julio Zavala Major cocaine trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area and top-ranking U.S.-based member of UDN-FARN who recruited Carlos Cabezas into the Contra drug ring and was convicted in the Frogman Case.
- Norwin Meneses Norwin Meneses Cantarero, known as "El Rey de la Droga," was Nicaragua's most prolific drug trafficker who simultaneously served as a DEA informant while running a cocaine distribution network spanning from Central America to California in support of the Contra movement.
- Orlando Murillo Nicaraguan economist and former Central Bank official under Somoza who laundered cocaine proceeds for Danilo Blandón through banks in Panama and Miami.
- Renato Pena FDN San Francisco representative and cocaine dealer for Norwin Meneses who was arrested in 1984 and implicated the CIA in Contra drug trafficking during DEA debriefings.
- Troilo Sanchez Brother of FDN officials Aristides and Fernando Sanchez, business partner of Norwin Meneses in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, identified by the FBI as a cocaine source for the Frogman ring in San Francisco.
- Vicente Rappaccioli CIA asset based in Costa Rica who was one of the leaders of UDN-FARN and directly involved in the 1983 Frogman cocaine case but was never charged.
Organizations (5)
- ARDE Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE) was a Contra faction based in Costa Rica and commanded by former Sandinista war hero Eden Pastora, formed when UDN-FARN merged with Pastora's group in September 1982.
- Contras Nicaraguan rebel groups organized and funded by the CIA to overthrow the Sandinista government, composed largely of former Somoza National Guard officers and implicated extensively in cocaine trafficking throughout the 1980s war.
- FDN The FDN was the largest and best-armed Contra faction, created by the CIA and commanded by Enrique Bermudez, with documented connections to cocaine trafficking for fundraising.
- Legion of September 15 Early Contra group of ex-Nicaraguan National Guardsmen based in Guatemala, co-commanded by Enrique Bermudez and Ricardo Lau, that formed the core of what became the FDN.
- UDN-FARN Early Contra faction based first in Honduras then Costa Rica, commanded by Fernando Chamorro, that shifted allegiances between the FDN, ARDE, and back during the Contra war.
Events (1)
- Frogman Case Largest cocaine bust in West Coast history at the time (January 1983), which exposed direct links between Contra drug traffickers in San Francisco and the CIA, connections suppressed through direct CIA intervention.