Exhibit 1065 ยท Newspaper article
The CIA and Crack: Evidence Is Lacking of Alleged Plot (Nicaraguans Had Limited Role in Bringing Drug to U.S. Cities)
A Washington Post investigation into Ross, Blandon, Meneses and the U.S. cocaine market in the 1980s found that the available information does not support the conclusion that the CIA-backed contras--or Nicaraguans in general--played a major role in the emergence of crack as a narcotic in widespread use across the United States.
The Post's first investigation of the Mercury News series. Reports that the articles 'did not say directly that the spy agency knew about the two Nicaraguans' drug dealing, although the stories hinted strongly at CIA involvement,' and that its own investigation found the available information does not support a major Contra or Nicaraguan role in the crack epidemic. Also reports that no evidence of specific transactions or explicit financial links backed Blandon's and Meneses's claims of sending money to the rebels, and quotes the 1989 Kerry committee's finding that there were 'serious questions' whether U.S. officials failed to address the drug issue.
- Source
- The Washington Post (Roberto Suro and Walter Pincus), front page
- Date
- 4 October 1996
- Quoted from
- Article text, paragraph 6 (copy hosted at Duke; line breaks removed)
- Grade
- Reported
- Document
- https://people.duke.edu/~ldbaker/clippings/cia.html
- Accessed
- 2026-11-10
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit
- Note
- The URL is a Duke course-clippings copy of the article. Replace with the washingtonpost.com archive URL before publication.