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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Mario Calero.md

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+---
+category: "Iran-Contra"
+tags:
+  - person
+  - honduran
+  - contra-war
+summary: Mario Calero was the brother of FDN leader Adolfo Calero who operated air cargo companies used for Contra supply missions and cocaine smuggling.
+---
+Mario Calero was the brother of [[FDN]] leader [[Adolfo Calero]] who operated air cargo companies used for Contra supply missions and [[cocaine]] smuggling. Mario ran [[Hondu Carib Cargo]] Inc., which the FDN hired to transport supplies, blurring the line between legitimate logistics and drug trafficking.[^1]
+
+### Hondu Carib Cargo
+
+[[Barry Seal]]'s farm in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], was allegedly used as a drop site for cocaine and marijuana flown in aboard a DC-4 aircraft, N90201. That same plane subsequently turned up flying supplies for the Contras in 1985 through Hondu Carib Cargo Inc., which [[Mario Calero]] operated. Robert Owen reported to [[Oliver North]] that a DC-6 owned by Mario Calero, "which is being used for runs out of [[New Orleans]] is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." The overlap between Mario's cargo companies and his brother's leadership of the FDN illustrated the family nature of the Contra-connected drug trade.[^2]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7.
+[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7.