20 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
20 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Private Organization"
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tags:
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- organization
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- corporate
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- contra-war
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summary: SETCO was a Honduran air freight company owned by drug kingpin Juan Matta Ballesteros that served as the principal transportation provider for the FDN Contra army.
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start: 1981
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location: "Tegucigalpa, Honduras"
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---
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SETCO was a Honduran air freight company owned by drug kingpin [[Juan Matta Ballesteros]] that served as the principal transportation provider for the [[FDN]] Contra army. Despite the [[U.S. Customs]] Service knowing about Matta's drug trafficking since 1983, SETCO continued to receive contracts for Contra supply missions.[^1]
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### The Contra's Principal Airline
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The [[NHAO|Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office]] 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]]. The CIA's Inspector General reported that "SETCO was the principal company used by the Contras in [[Honduras]] to transport supplies and personnel for the FDN." Pilot Robert Moss flew FDN supply missions for both SETCO and Hondu Carib, a company operated by FDN leader Adolfo Calero's brother Mario. The arrangement placed the Contra supply chain directly in the hands of one of [[Central America]]'s biggest drug traffickers.[^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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