18 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
18 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Country"
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tags:
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- geography
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- region
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- contra-war
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summary: The Caribbean was a key transit zone for cocaine shipments moving from South America through the Bahamas, Panama, and Costa Rica to the United States during the Contra war.
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---
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The Caribbean was a key transit zone for [[cocaine]] shipments moving from [[South America]] through the [[Bahamas]], [[Panama]], and [[Costa Rica]] to the [[United States]] during the Contra war. The region's geography, with its numerous islands and porous coastlines, made it ideal for drug smuggling operations.[^1]
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### Trafficking Routes
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[[Manuel Noriega|Noriega]]'s pilots flew drugs through two routes north: one through [[Mexico]] for the West Coast market, and the other through the Bahamas for the East Coast's cocaine buyers. [[Pablo Escobar]]'s associate Carlos Lehder set up shop in the Bahamas, buying an island where drug planes from [[Colombia]] could land, refuel, and wait for the right moment to fly into the United States. The Caribbean transit zone was integral to the Contra-connected drug pipeline.[^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. 5.
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 5, Ch. 14.
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