18 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
18 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Iran-Contra"
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tags:
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- person
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- nicaraguan
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- contra-war
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summary: Sandra Smith was a DEA agent who filed an affidavit in 1981 documenting Norwin Meneses's involvement in cocaine trafficking, years before the Frogman Case.
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---
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Sandra Smith was a [[DEA]] agent who filed an affidavit in November 1981 documenting [[Norwin Meneses]]'s involvement in [[Cocaine]] trafficking. Smith's affidavit stated: "The Drug Enforcement Administration has evidence that Meneses is a major narcotics trafficker."[^1]
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### Early Warnings
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Smith's affidavit was one of the earliest official law enforcement documents establishing Meneses as a major drug trafficker. Despite this knowledge, Meneses was never prosecuted by federal authorities and continued to operate freely in [[San Francisco]] and [[Los Angeles]] for years. The DEA's awareness of Meneses's activities as early as 1981, combined with the failure to act, raised questions about whether his role as a Contra political figure and possible intelligence asset protected him from prosecution.[^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. 2.
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 2.
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