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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert Owen.md
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@ -8,8 +8,13 @@ tags:
- Iran-Contra
- 1980s
- Dark_Alliance_Investigation
- u.s.-government
- contra-war
summary: Oliver North's courier in Central America whose phone number was found aboard a drug-seized Contra supply plane.
alias:
- Rob Owen
---
Robert Owen was [[Oliver North]]'s courier in [[Central America]] during the Contra war, serving as a key link in North's illegal resupply operation.[^1]
### Drug Trafficking Evidence
@ -26,8 +31,18 @@ In August 1986, Owen was in [[Costa Rica]] when [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and [[U.
Back in Washington, U.S. Customs enforcement chief William Rosenblatt called North about Kelso's evidence tapes. North sent Owen to collect them. Owen listened to tapes of Costa Rican officials accusing DEA agents of corruption, confirmed the content, and then threw the tapes away when the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] broke in October 1986. "They were thrown out, along with a bunch of other stuff, when I moved," Owen testified. The tapes were never seen again. The congressional Iran-Contra panel noted Owen "did not tell Rosenblatt he worked for North or the CIA. He told him he worked for a private organization. Not surprisingly, Owen never returned the tape recordings."[^3]
### Contra Supply
Rob Owen was Oliver North's courier and liaison to the Contra leadership who reported on drug trafficking by Contra supply companies. Owen served as North's eyes and ears on the ground in Central America, carrying messages and funds between the [[White House]] and the Contra commanders.[^4]
### Reports on Drug Trafficking
Owen reported to North that a DC-6 owned by [[Mario Calero]], brother of [[FDN]] leader Adolfo Calero, which was being used for runs out of New Orleans, "is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." Owen also relayed information about [[Dagoberto Nunez|Dagoberto Nuñez]]'s intelligence-gathering operations against the Sandinistas. His memos to North documented the overlap between drug trafficking and the Contra supply chain, providing some of the most direct evidence that the [[National Security Council]] operation knowingly used drug-connected companies like [[SETCO]] and Hondu Carib Cargo for logistical operations.[^5]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends"
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 15.
[^5]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 15, Ch. 7.