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#United_States

48 entries tagged United_States.

People (26)

  • Aparicio Moreno Colombian cocaine supplier and money launderer connected to both the Blandon and Meneses organizations, the FDN, and a Guatemalan CIA agent.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Gustavo Medina Former National Guard major general under Anastasio Somoza who served as the regime's counterinsurgency expert and later co-founded La Parrilla restaurant in Miami, a gathering place for Contra leaders.
  • 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.
  • Joseph Kelso Former CIA and Customs Service informant who uncovered evidence of DEA corruption in Costa Rica, was beaten and deported, and had his evidence destroyed by Oliver North's network.
  • 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.
  • Robert Owen Oliver North's courier in Central America whose phone number was found aboard a drug-seized Contra supply plane.
  • 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.
  • Roger Sandino Roger Sandino Martinez was a veteran Nicaraguan drug trafficker and FDN operative who took over Danilo Blandon's South Central Los Angeles cocaine operation after Blandon relocated to Miami.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Organizations (14)

  • Adelphi Academies Adelphi Academies was a private children's school in Florida owned by a wealthy individual named Peter Bradford.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • NAMBLA NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) was a United States-based organization that advocated for the normalization of sexual relationships between men and boys.
  • NHAO The Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office was a State Department unit hijacked by Oliver North to distribute aid to the Contras through companies owned and operated by drug traffickers.
  • Ocean Living Institute The Ocean Living Institute was a sea-steading foundation incorporated in New Jersey by Adam Starchild, who also served as the incorporating agent for Brother Paul's Children's Mission on North Fox Island.
  • Painting Decorating Maintenance Painting Decorating Maintenance (PDM) was a construction company owned by John Wayne Gacy in Norwood Park, Chicago.
  • Park On Meter Arkansas parking meter manufacturer allegedly used as a front for manufacturing weapons parts for the Contras, with connections to Webb Hubbell.
  • 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.
  • U.S. Customs U.S. federal law enforcement agency responsible for border protection and customs enforcement that investigated Contra-connected cocaine trafficking through informants including Joseph Kelso.
  • 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.

Events (1)

  • Business Plot 1933 alleged conspiracy by Wall Street financiers including the DuPont family to overthrow President Roosevelt and install a fascist dictatorship.

Concepts (1)

  • Fascism Fascism was the authoritarian nationalist ideology of interwar Europe that American sympathizers attempted to import in the 1930s via the Business Plot and other efforts, and whose remnants were recruited into U.S. intelligence via Operation Paperclip.

Places (5)

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Miami Major South Florida city that became the center of the Nicaraguan exile community, a hub for Contra fundraising and cocaine trafficking, and Danilo Blandón's base after leaving Los Angeles.
  • 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.