CIA - Contras
Report on Drug Connection between the CIA and the CONTRAS
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CONTRA ORGANIZATIONS
What drug trafficking allegations was CIA aware of, and when, involving Contra organizations? How
did CIA respond to this information, and how was this information shared with other U.S. Government
entities?
15th of September Legion--Justiniano Perez/Manuel Porro/Juan Francisco Rivera/Hugo
Villagra/Fernando Brautigan/Felix Alcides Espinoza/Edwin Hoocker
177.Background. The military arm of the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ADREN) was known
as the 15th of September Legion. It was formed in 1980 and its principal leaders were Enrique Bermudez
and Justiniano Perez Sala. Other leaders included Guillermo Mendieta Chaves, Alcides Espinoza, Ricardo
"Chino" Lau, Manuel Porro, Manuel Villalobo, and Hugo Villagra.
178.In May 1981, a Central American Station reported that the ADREN, Nicaraguan Democratic Union (UDN)
and MISURASATA had agreed in principle to combine forces in a new organization. They would continue to
use the name 15th of September Legion for the organization's military arm. The new organization, the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), was established in September 1981. The FDN General Staff included
Enrique Bermudez, Justiniano Perez, Ricardo Lau, and Juan Francisco Rivera. The merger of the UDN and
the ADREN, including its 15th of September Legion, into the FDN was completed in early 1982. Former
ADREN leader Guillermo Mendieta Chaves was excluded from the new organization because he was
suspected of being a Sandinista spy.
179.The 15th of September Legion included a unit called the Special Secret Operations Command (OES). The
Coordinator of the OES was Justiniano Perez. Other members included Fernando Brautigan, Alcides
Espinoza, Edwin Hoocker, Ricardo Lau, and Gerardo Martinez Gutierrez. The unit was organized to increase
ADREN's operational capabilities both within and outside Nicaragua.
180.The ADREN to some extent engaged in kidnapping, extortion and robbery to fund its operations. A June
1981 Central American Station draft field intelligence report stated that ADREN leaders "see themselves as
being forced to stoop to criminal activities in order to feed and clothe their cadre." The ADREN also engaged
in the bombing of Nicaraguan civilian airliners and airliner hijackings as methods of attacking the Sandinista
Government. The Station reporting from June 1981 through March 1982 identified the following 15th of
September Legion members as having been involved in criminal activities: Brautigan, Hoocker, Lau, Martinez,
Perez, Porro, Rivera, and Villagra.
181.A September 1981 cable to Headquarters (discussed in more detail later in this section) indicated that
ADREN had decided to engage in drug trafficking to the United States to raise funds for its activities.
ADREN members Alan Downs and Edwin Hoocker reportedly had been involved in an initial delivery of
drugs to Miami in July 1981.
182.The leader of the ADREN/OES, Justiniano Perez, resigned from the FDN in November 1981. Perez wrote a
resignation letter in which he stated that he was leaving because of internal dissension and mistrust within the
FDN leadership. A June 1982 cable to Headquarters reported that Enrique Bermudez, Chief of the FDN
General Staff, had stated that the OES was involved in armed assaults and thefts to collect funds. According
to Bermudez, Perez disclaimed responsibility but admitted he had lost control of the group.
183.According to a March 1982 Headquarters cable, the FDN had ceased using the name "15th of September
Legion" by early 1982. The name had become associated with a small splinter group led by Perez, Porro,
Rivera, and Villagra. Its personnel were principally former members of the ADREN/OES. The group
reportedly continued to conduct criminal activities to support its operations against the Government of
National Reconstruction (GRN) and identified itself as the 15th of September Legion.
184.Justiniano Perez Sala. In June 1982, Headquarters requested an assessment as to whether Perez "could
be influenced to employ tactics other than those used by terrorists," if he were to be re-integrated into the
FDN. In November 1982, with the support of MISURASATA leader Stedman Fagoth Mueller and the
concurrence of the FDN, Perez re-joined the Nicaraguan Resistance (RN) as the Military Advisor to the
MISURASATA.
185.A January 1984 cable reported that "Perez is the only person in Honduras and in the entire FDN with the
leadership, charisma, and military tactical ability to make the movement go forward in the manner CIA would
like." However, beginning in December 1983, two Stations reported that Perez became involved in a
disinformation scheme, along with Francisco Rivera, Hugo Villagra and a Cuban-American U.S. citizen that
was directed against the political and military leadership of the FDN. In May 1984, Perez withdrew from
active service with the MISURASATA, returned to Miami, and had become associated with a dissident
Nicaraguan exile group led by Hugo Villagra and the Cuban-American citizen that eventually became known
as the Nicaraguan Coalition of Opposition to the Regime (CONDOR).
186.Manuel Porro Rubiales. A June 1982 cable identified Manuel Porro as a member of the FDN General
Staff support unit. He was identified as an instructor at the FDN NCO School in an October 1982 cable. A
September 1986 cable discussed Adolfo Calero's hiring of Porro as an assistant. A September 1987 cable
indicated that Porro also reportedly handled Adolfo Calero's funding transactions between Miami and San
Jose, Costa Rica, banks.
187.Juan Francisco Rivera Aguirre. In a May 1982 cable to Headquarters, Rivera was identified as FDN
Chief of Logistics. A February 1983 cable reported that an FDN investigation had found Rivera guilty of
misappropriating funds. According to a March 1983 cable, Rivera had contacted Carol Prado and indicated
that he would leave the FDN and travel to Miami. In May 1983, a Station reported that Rivera was alleging
that the FDN was "coming apart" due to internal conflicts, cliques and lack of control by CIA.
188.A June 1983 cable indicated that Rivera moved to Miami where he became one of the leaders of the
dissident Nicaraguan exile group that eventually became known as the CONDOR group. According to a
December 1984 Headquarters report, Rivera was active, along with Perez, Villagra and the Cuban-American
citizen, in a disinformation campaign that attempted to ferment distrust between the Honduran military
leadership and the FDN in Honduras. The CONDOR group's ultimate goal was to supplant the FDN
leadership with its own members.
189.Hugo Villagra Gutierrez. A November 1982 cable identified Hugo Villagra as the FDN Chief of
Operations. In August 1983, he was appointed as the Tactical Field Commander of FDN Forces in
Nicaragua.
190.A December 1983 cable reported that Villagra had resigned from the FDN, claiming that he was not being
supported by the FDN political and military leadership. Villagra moved to Miami and, according to a June
1984 Headquarters cable, became one of the leaders of the dissident Nicaraguan exile group that eventually
became known as the CONDOR group.
191.Other 15th of September Personalities: Fernando Brautigan. No information has been found to
indicate that Brautigan joined the FDN after the demise of the 15th of September Legion in 1982. However,
an April 1983 Central American Station cable to Headquarters concurred in his appointment as a Military
Advisor to Emery Hudson's Miskito Resistance organization in Costa Rica as requested by Miskito leader
Norman Campbell. Brautigan was identified as a member of the dissident Nicaraguan exile CONDOR group
in a May 1986 cable to Headquarters.
192.Felix Alcides Espinoza Rodriguez. According to a June 1983 cable to Headquarters, Alcides Espinoza
was FDN Commander of Sagitario Base in June 1982. A November 1984 cable indicated that Espinoza was
senior Military Adviser to MISURA.
193.Edwin Hoocker Coe. No record has been found to indicate that Hoocker joined the FDN after the demise
of the 15th of September Legion in 1982. However, an April 1983 Central American Station cable to
Headquarters concurred in his appointment as a Military Adviser to Emery Hudson's Miskito Resistance
organization in Costa Rica as requested by Miskito leader Norman Campbell. A June 1984 FBI name trace
request to CIA indicated that Hoocker had recently immigrated from Nicaragua and had taken up residence
in Texas.
194.Allegations of Drug Trafficking. In September 1981, a report to Headquarters relaying information
obtained from an asset stated that the ADREN leadership had made a decision to engage in drug smuggling to
the United States in order to finance its anti-Sandinista operations. Reportedly an initial trial run had taken
place in July 1981 when ADREN member Alan Downs carried drugs in a suitcase on a flight to Miami. Once
the drugs were delivered and paid for, Downs reportedly turned over the proceeds to Edwin Hoocker in
Miami. No other information concerning Downs has been found. Reportedly the drugs belonged to an
unidentified Honduran who was a native of the Bay Islands and who operated out of San Pedro Sula.
195.A May 1982 cable from the FBI to CIA stated that reportedly "Justiniano Perez is a close friend of 'Paisa'
(nickname) who is a Drug Trafficker." According to the cable, Perez told Paisa that "if [Perez] received
financial assistance from Paisa he would make business concessions to him when and if Nicaragua were to be
liberated."
196.A February 1982 Headquarters cable, in response to a name trace request, indicated that members of the
splinter group of the 15th of September Legion Group who had refused to join the FDN were using the
Legion name in conducting robberies, drug smuggling and hijacking.
197.CIA Response To Allegations of Drug Trafficking. No information has been found to indicate any action
to follow-up or corroborate the allegations concerning ADREN/15th of September Legion drug smuggling
into the United States. However, the September 1981 and February 1982 information against ADREN/15th
of September Legion stemmed from a single source, and in October 1982, Headquarters issued a cable
indicating that the source was thought to be untrustworthy and a possible agent of the Government of
Nicaragua. A January 1982 Headquarters cable noted that an Agency asset should not meet Justiniano Perez
and Francisco Rivera "who represent the 'Renegade' splinter group of the 15th of September Legion."
198.No information has been found to indicate that the Agency pursued any action to follow-up or corroborate
the May 1982 FBI information concerning Justiniano Perez's alleged close friendship with a reputed drug
trafficker named Paisa and Perez's alleged promise to help Paisa later in return for financial assistance. No
record of any individual named Paisa has been found in CIA records.
199.Information Sharing with Other U.S. Government Entities. The September 1981 report that the
ADREN intended to engage in drug smuggling to the United States was disseminated as an intelligence report
on October 28, 1981 to the Departments of State and Treasury, FBI, U.S. Customs, Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA), and NSA. The report also was disseminated to the Ambassador and DEA representative in
Tegucigalpa and to USCINC South. Several intelligence reports concerning the ADREN/15th of September
Legion's criminal, non-drug trafficking, activities also were disseminated to U.S. law enforcement and
intelligence community organizations between June 1981 and March 1982. No information has been found
that this reporting was shared with Congress.
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