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The_Info_Web/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert Owen.md

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Rob Owen
Intelligence & Government
Person
Person/Intelligence
United_States
Contra_War
Iran-Contra
1980s
Dark_Alliance_Investigation
u.s.-government
contra-war
Oliver North's courier in Central America whose phone number was found aboard a drug-seized Contra supply plane.
type with role start fn
partner_of Oliver North courier for North's Central American network 1985 6
2026-10-14

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

In 1985, Owen reported to North that a DC-6 owned by Mario Calero (brother of Adolfo Calero) "which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." Owen's phone number was found aboard a DC-4 seized by the DEA in March 1987 on a suspected drug run off Florida's coast. The plane, used by pilot Frank Moss to ferry Contra supplies, also contained marijuana residue and Moss's notes with "the names of two CIA officers and their telephone numbers," according to a CIA cable.1

Nunez and H&M Corp

A 1986 memo from Owen to North described Dagoberto Nunez's plan to sign an agreement with Heroes and Martyrs Trading Corporation (H&M Corp.), the official import-export agency of the Sandinista government, for shrimping rights off the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. Núñez was a Costa Rican-based drug trafficker working for North and the Central Intelligence Agency. "Nunez is doing this so he can help us. He will cooperate and do anything we ask," Owen told North. "He believes this will provide an opportunity to use his boats for cover operations, or to implicate the Ortegas and Borge in taking money on the side for their own pocket. He is right on both counts."2

The Kelso Affair

In August 1986, Owen was in Costa Rica when Joseph Kelso, a CIA and U.S. Customs informant fleeing DEA agents who had threatened his life, arrived at John Hull's ranch. Owen later recounted in a deposition that Kelso told him: "I think the DEA people are trying to kill me. I am convinced that they were involved in narcotics trafficking and looking the other way." Hull wrote a report for Oliver North detailing Kelso's allegations and gave it to Owen to deliver. Hull wrote: "Since you are in Wash[ington] you might check these things out. If the DEA people are in the drug business it should be stopped."3

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 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

NHAO and Cash Couriers

After the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office was created in August 1985, North and Elliott Abrams persuaded Robert W. Duemling, the office's director, to add Owen to the NHAO staff. Owen was North's Central American courier.6 The independent counsel's report records that Owen, in addition to handling traveler's checks for contra leaders, picked up and delivered $16,500 in cash.7

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. ↩︎

  6. Walsh, Lawrence E. Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, vol. I, ch. 25, "Abrams, North and NHAO." https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm ↩︎

  7. Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 14, description of the Enterprise couriers. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_14.htm ↩︎