23 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
23 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Country"
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tags:
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- geography
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- south-america
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- contra-war
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summary: Bolivia was a primary source country for the cocaine that flowed through the Contra-connected trafficking networks, with the politically connected Suarez family supplying the Blandón-Meneses drug ring.
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---
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Bolivia was a primary source country for the [[cocaine]] that flowed through the [[Contras|Contra]]-connected trafficking networks, with the politically connected Suarez family supplying the [[Danilo Blandon|Blandón]]-[[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] drug ring. A 1990 [[DEA]] report stated that the ring was "a criminal organization that operates internationally from [[Colombia]] and Bolivia, through the [[Bahamas]], [[Costa Rica]], or [[Nicaragua]] to the [[United States]]." The Bolivian cocaine was coming into [[Miami]] before being distributed to the West Coast.[^1]
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### The Suarez Connection
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The Blandón-Meneses ring sourced its cocaine from the Suarez family in Bolivia and the Ochoa family in Colombia, founders of the [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín Cartel]]. [[Roger Sandino]] was busted in April 1986 as part of the biggest cocaine case on the Atlantic Coast, when DEA agents in Norfolk, Virginia, charged him and fourteen others, including the son-in-law of Bolivian cocaine kingpin Roberto Suarez-Gomez, with conspiracy to import 700 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $158 million. The DEA brought the cocaine into the United States from Bolivia to use as bait in a reverse sting.[^2]
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### Blandón's Bolivian Deal
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Blandón was once stopped at Tegucigalpa airport carrying $100,000 in drug proceeds to be used in a Bolivian drug deal while escorted by armed Contras. The incident illustrated the direct connection between Contra operations and the South American cocaine supply chain.[^3]
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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. 6.
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 21.
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[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 3.
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