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→Mena, Arkansas
==Mena, Arkansas==
==Mena, Arkansas==
The Mena Airport in Arkansas became the logistical point for implementation of US Central American policy. On 5 October 1986 a C-123 transport aircraft delivering weapons to the Nicaraguan Contras was shot down by a surface-to-air shoulder launched missile. Two U.S. pilots and a Nicaraguan radio operator died while [[Eugene Hasenfus]], the "kicker" responsible for pushing cargo out of the aircraft, survived. The aircraft was carrying "60 collapsible [[AK-47]] rifles, 50,000 AK-47 rifle cartridges, several dozen [[RPG-7]] grenade launchers and 150 pairs of jungle boots".<ref name=Lange>Timothy Lange, ''Daily Kos'', 27 December 2009, [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/27/819675/-Blast-from-the-Past-Gene-Hasenfus-December-1986 Blast from the Past. Gene Hasenfus: December 1986]</ref> The plane had been owned by [[Bary Seals]] and based in Mena, Arkansas.<ref>http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB920421328276427000 </ref>
The Mena Airport in Arkansas became the logistical point for implementation of US Central American policy. On 5 October 1986 a C-123 transport aircraft delivering weapons to the Nicaraguan Contras was shot down by a surface-to-air shoulder launched missile. Two U.S. pilots and a Nicaraguan radio operator died while [[Eugene Hasenfus]], the "kicker" responsible for pushing cargo out of the aircraft, survived. The aircraft was carrying "60 collapsible [[AK-47]] rifles, 50,000 AK-47 rifle cartridges, several dozen [[RPG-7]] grenade launchers and 150 pairs of jungle boots".<ref name=Lange>Timothy Lange, ''Daily Kos'', 27 December 2009, [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/27/819675/-Blast-from-the-Past-Gene-Hasenfus-December-1986 Blast from the Past. Gene Hasenfus: December 1986]</ref> The plane had been owned by [[Barry Seal]] and based in Mena, Arkansas.<ref>http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB920421328276427000 </ref> Hasenfus's captured phone book contained the names of Barry Seal, Oliver North, and Felix Rodriguez which the Sandinista's used to attract American media attention and expose the Mena operation.
Even after the Mena, Arkansas gun-running operation was exposed and shut down after 1986, Mena continued to be used for illegal narcotics smuggling into the United States and the profits pocketed by locals under then Governor [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/08/26/the-boys-on-the-tracks-are-back </ref>
Even after the Mena, Arkansas gun-running operation was exposed and shut down after 1986, Mena continued to be used for illegal narcotics smuggling into the United States and the profits pocketed by locals under then Governor [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/08/26/the-boys-on-the-tracks-are-back </ref>