The link between the CIA and drug smuggling began to gain momentum in the public awareness in 1996, after an article detailing the connection between convicted cocaine trafficker Rick Ross and the covert Nicaraguan contra operations was published by Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News. In it, the author claims that one of Ross's key suppliers in the early 1980's, Danilo Blandon, was diverting profits from cocaine to the same Nicaraguan rebel groups that were also receiving support from the CIA, to further American interests in the region, based on testimony given by Blandon at Ross's trial. Although clear evidence linking Blandon to the CIA was never established, his lack of prosecution suggests some level of cooperation with federal officials.
However, upper level American officials knew about the smuggling since at least 1989, when a Senate subcommittee headed by John Kerry published a report called "Drugs, Law Enforcement, and Foreign Policy" which detailed the US complacency towards drug smuggling in the interest of national security. Senate investigators reported significant obstruction from the Justice Department and CIA officials when questioned, suggesting some level of knowledge of the smuggling by the federal government.
But because of the nature of covert operations, it's impossible to say just how far knowledge of the smuggling went up the chain of command. American officials were probably involved in cocaine smuggling in the early 1980's, but to what extent and under whose orders remains a mystery. The smuggling may have been committed by rogue agents looking for personal profit, or may have been officially sanctioned to support American interests in the several civil wars occurring in the region at the time. Whether or not the black community was specifically targeted by the crack epidemic is also unanswered, and probably never will be unless CIA documents are declassified.
Hello everyone,
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Here's where it's been answered before (similar question and one of the posts has a list of threads).
Edit: of all the links down that rabbit hole,
Seems to have the most thoroughly sourced answer (though would love to read more about this if anyone else has any info)
Other than Gary Webb, has there been any deeper investigation into this, anicdotaly I know that the Kerry committee did a bit? (Please take this as a follow on question and not a statement!)