22 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
22 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Organized Crime"
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tags:
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- IranContra
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- person
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- honduran
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- contra-war
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summary: Juan Matta Ballesteros was Honduras's biggest drug trafficker whose air cargo company SETCO was the principal transportation provider for the Contra army.
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born: 1945
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died: 2025
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location: "Tegucigalpa, Honduras"
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---
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Juan Matta Ballesteros was [[Honduras]]'s biggest drug trafficker whose air cargo company [[SETCO]] was the principal transportation provider for the [[Contras|Contra]] army. The [[U.S. Customs]] Service had known about Matta's drug trafficking since 1983, but his company continued to receive U.S. government contracts for Contra supply missions.[^1]
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### SETCO and the Contra Supply Chain
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The [[NHAO|Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO)]] hired SETCO to transport supplies and personnel for the [[FDN]]. [[Oliver North]] also used SETCO for airdrops of military supplies to Contra forces inside [[Nicaragua]]. Pilot Robert Moss flew FDN supply missions for both Hondu Carib, a company operated by FDN leader [[Adolfo Calero]]'s brother, and SETCO. The use of a drug kingpin's company as the primary Contra transportation provider demonstrated the direct overlap between narcotics trafficking and the U.S.-backed war.[^2]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 14.
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7, Ch. 14.
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