---
category: "Private Organization"
tags:
  - organization
  - corporate
  - contra-war
summary: DIACSA was a Miami aircraft company run by a Cuban Bay of Pigs veteran that served as a cover company for the Costa Rican Contras and a hub for plotting drug flights and laundering cocaine profits.
---
DIACSA was a [[Miami]] aircraft company run by Cuban [[Bay of Pigs]] veteran Alfredo Caballero that served as a cover company for the Costa Rican [[Contras]] and a hub for plotting drug flights and laundering [[cocaine]] profits. A 1985 [[Central Intelligence Agency]] cable described DIACSA as the "cover company" used by the Costa Rican Contras to secretly buy aircraft.[^1]

### Drug Smuggling Operations

[[Floyd Carlton]], a Panamanian pilot working with [[Manuel Noriega|Noriega]], had used DIACSA for years as the U.S. headquarters for his Panamanian drug-smuggling venture. Carlton admitted that he and his partners plotted their drug flights and arranged the laundering of their cocaine profits in DIACSA's offices. The company's dual function as both a legitimate aviation business and a narcotics smuggling hub exemplified the overlap between Contra logistics and drug trafficking in [[Florida]].[^2]

### CIA Connections

DIACSA's operator, Alfredo Caballero, was a Cuban drug dealer who had been part of the CIA's [[Bay of Pigs|Bay of Pigs operation]]. His background was typical of the Cuban exile operatives the CIA recruited for Contra work, combining anti-Communist credentials with experience in drug trafficking and covert operations. DIACSA's role as a CIA-designated cover company demonstrated how the Agency's covert procurement infrastructure was integrated with the drug trade.[^3]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.