Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras & the Drug War (1994) - Celerino Castillo III [PDF]

The truth about the remaining dark secret of the Iran-Contra scandal- the United States

government's collaboration with drug smugglers. Powderburns is the story of Celerino

Castillo III who spent 12 years in the Drug Enforcement Administration. During that time,

he built cases against organized drug rings in Manhattan, raided jungle cocaine labs in

the Amazon, conducted aerial eradication operations in Guatemala, and assembled and

trained anti-narcotics units in several countries. The eerie climax of Agent Castillo's

career with the DEA took place in El Salvador. One day, he recieved a cable from a fellow

agent. He was told to investigate possible drug smuggling by Nicaraguan Contras operating

from the ilpango air force base. Castillo quickly discovered that Contra pilots were,

indeed, smuggling narcotics back into the United States - using the same pilots, planes,

and hangars that the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, under

the Direction of Lt. Col. Oliver North, used to maintain their covert supply operation to

the Contras.