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#Dark_Alliance_Investigation

54 entries tagged Dark_Alliance_Investigation.

People (33)

  • 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 Lehder Colombian drug trafficker who revolutionized cocaine smuggling for the Medellín cartel in the early 1980s.
  • Chris Moore Former reserve police officer and office manager for Pyramid International Security Consultants who witnessed the company's El Salvador operations firsthand.
  • Chuck Jones DEA agent who served as Danilo Blandón's primary handler from 1993 to 1995 and denied any knowledge of Blandón's Contra drug trafficking history during a contentious meeting with Gary Webb.
  • Danny Ray Lasater Little Rock bond broker and Clinton associate convicted of drug trafficking, connected to Barry Seal's operations at Mena, Arkansas.
  • Don Sinicco Italian-American pharmaceutical salesman who founded USACA, a San Francisco Contra support group, at the request of Adolfo Calero.
  • Doyle McManus Los Angeles Times Washington bureau chief who played a central role in spreading a 1984 CIA leak about Sandinista drug trafficking and later led the Times' refutation of Contra drug trafficking allegations.
  • Edmundo Meneses Former Nicaraguan ambassador to Guatemala, National Guard general, and Managua police chief who was Norwin Meneses's brother and primary protector, and a probable CIA asset assassinated in Guatemala in 1978.
  • Eugene Hasenfus Former Air America cargo handler who survived the shootdown of a CIA-contracted C-123K over Nicaragua, exposing the Ilopango Contra supply operation and CIA involvement.
  • Frank Moss Pilot and owner of Hondu Carib Cargo who flew FDN supply missions while under investigation for narcotics offenses by ten law enforcement agencies.
  • Fred Hitz CIA Inspector General whose 1998 investigation and congressional testimony revealed the agency's secret 1982 agreement with the Justice Department exempting CIA assets from drug crimes reporting.
  • Georg Hodel Swiss freelance journalist based in Managua who located Norwin Meneses in a Nicaraguan prison and uncovered court files documenting his drug trafficking for the Contras, playing a critical role in the Dark Alliance investigation.
  • Jesse Katz Los Angeles Times reporter who covered Ricky Ross and the L.A. crack trade extensively, attempting to scoop Gary Webb's Dark Alliance investigation before publication.
  • Jose Macario Exiled Nicaraguan judge and FDN operative who became Danilo Blandon's business partner and immigration lawyer in Miami, helping arrange travel papers for Contra soldiers while investing drug profits in legitimate businesses.
  • LJ Oneale Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Ricky Ross and represented the government in efforts to suppress evidence of Danilo Blandón's Contra connections during the trial.
  • Marilyn Huff Federal judge who presided over Ricky Ross's 1996 trial in San Diego, allowing the government to conduct classified testimony at sidebar and denying defense motions to obtain records about Danilo Blandón's Contra connections.
  • Neil Purcell Former Laguna Beach police chief who hired Ronald Lister and described him as a manipulative person who loved living on the edge.
  • Ollie Newell Childhood friend and original business partner of Ricky Ross who helped launch their cocaine dealing operation in 1981.
  • Orlando Murillo Nicaraguan economist and former Central Bank official under Somoza who laundered cocaine proceeds for Danilo Blandón through banks in Panama and Miami.
  • Robert Owen Oliver North's courier in Central America whose phone number was found aboard a drug-seized Contra supply plane.
  • Robert Parry Robert Parry (1949-2018) was an investigative journalist who broke early Iran-Contra and Contra drug stories at the AP and Newsweek, founded Consortium News in 1995 after being sidelined by mainstream outlets, and produced the most sustained documentary case for the October Surprise allegation, obtaining the withheld Madrid embassy cable reference and discovering the buried Russian intelligence report.
  • Robert Sobel LASD Majors I supervisor who led the Freeway Rick Task Force targeting Ricky Ross, nicknamed "El Diablo" by his detectives for his relentless work ethic and fierce demeanor.
  • Robert Stutman Head of the DEA's New York office who deliberately created the 1986 crack media panic by cultivating reporters to pressure Washington into taking the drug seriously.
  • Roger Morris Historian and former NSC staffer who documented connections between Barry Seal's drug operations at Mena, Arkansas and the CIA.
  • Steve Polak LAPD narcotics detective who patrolled South Central Los Angeles from the earliest days of crack cocaine and developed an intense personal vendetta against Ricky Ross, ultimately planting a kilo of cocaine to frame him.
  • Terry Reed Former Air Force intelligence officer who helped the CIA set up weapons manufacturing fronts in Arkansas and Mexico for the Contras.
  • Tim LaFrance San Diego arms manufacturer who helped establish weapons manufacturing operations in El Salvador for the Contras through Pyramid International Security Consultants.
  • Tootie Reese Alleged king of cocaine in black Los Angeles during the 1970s, overtaken by the crack era and successors like Ricky Ross.
  • 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.
  • Walter Pincus Washington Post national security reporter who led the newspaper's attack on the Dark Alliance series and had a documented history as a CIA operative and propagandist during the Cold War.
  • Webb Hubbell Arkansas lawyer and associate attorney general under Clinton with connections to weapons manufacturing for the Contras and the Mena, Arkansas drug investigation.
  • William French Smith William French Smith (1917-1990) served as U.S. Attorney General from 1981 to 1985 under President Reagan, and as the first Reagan AG signed the secret 1982 Memorandum of Understanding with CIA director William J. Casey that removed drug offenses from the list of crimes CIA assets were required to report to the Department of Justice.

Organizations (13)

  • Hondu Carib Cargo Air cargo company operated by Adolfo Calero's brother that flew Contra supply missions while connected to drug trafficking.
  • LAPD Municipal police department that witnessed but failed to identify the emergence of crack cocaine in South Central L.A. in 1982.
  • LASD Major Violators Elite narcotics units of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that investigated the Blandon-Ross cocaine network and were considered among the best drug detectives in the nation.
  • 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.
  • Los Angeles Times Largest newspaper in the western United States that published the 1996 attack on the Dark Alliance series, led by Washington bureau chief Doyle McManus who had previously spread a 1984 CIA leak falsely accusing Sandinista officials of drug trafficking.
  • Park On Meter Arkansas parking meter manufacturer allegedly used as a front for manufacturing weapons parts for the Contras, with connections to Webb Hubbell.
  • Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, which administered the AATIP program and several classified research programs including STARGATE's successor activities and UAP investigation units.
  • Pyramid International Security Consultants Newport Beach security company incorporated by Ronald Lister that served as a cover for CIA-connected weapons manufacturing in El Salvador during the Contra war.
  • San Jose Mercury News The San Jose Mercury News published the Dark Alliance series in August 1996, using the Internet to share source documents with the public in an unprecedented act of journalistic transparency.
  • State Department The State Department serves as the federal executive department responsible for the United States' foreign policy and international relations.
  • U.S. Army The U.S. Army is the primary ground combat branch of the U.S. military and the parent service for INSCOM, which administered the STARGATE remote viewing unit at Fort Meade.
  • USACA San Francisco Contra support group founded by Don Sinicco at the request of Adolfo Calero, infiltrated by drug trafficker Norwin Meneses.
  • Washington Post Major national newspaper whose national security reporter Walter Pincus, a former CIA operative, led the first major media attack on the Dark Alliance series.

Programs (1)

  • Operation Big Spender FBI sting operation that exposed widespread corruption within the LASD Major Violators squads, resulting in the conviction of multiple narcotics detectives and nearly exposing the CIA-Contra drug connection.

Places (7)

  • California Most populous U.S. state, home to San Francisco and Los Angeles, the two primary centers of Contra-connected cocaine trafficking by Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandón during the 1980s.
  • Guatemala Guatemala is a country in Central America that was deeply involved in Contra-related operations during the 1980s and has a history of political instability, military coups, and U.S. involvement in the region.[^1][^3]
  • Los Angeles Largest city in California and the center of the crack cocaine explosion in South Central Los Angeles, fueled by cocaine supplied by Danilo Blandón's Contra-connected drug ring throughout the 1980s.
  • Mena, Arkansas Small Arkansas town where Barry Seal based drug-smuggling and weapons operations at Intermountain Regional Airport during the Contra war.
  • San Diego Southern California city where Ricky Ross was prosecuted, Danilo Blandón served as a DEA informant, and the pivotal DEA meeting with Gary Webb took place in October 1995.
  • United States 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.
  • Venezuela Venezuela is a country in South America whose president, Hugo Chavez, was a close ally of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras.