Crack Cop

New FBI documents add to the mystery surrounding a former Laguna cop who says he ran coke for the Nicaraguan rebels

by Nick Schou

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has always denied that former Laguna Beach cop, international arms merchant and convicted drug dealer Ronald J. Lister ever worked for the CIA or other U.S. intelligence agencies. But the FBI also insists that revealing the details of Lister’s various Iran-contra-era arms deals would compromise U.S. national security.

It’s a claim that adds to the mystery surrounding Lister, who says he smuggled coke into California to raise cash for the CIA-backed Nicaraguan contras.

Was Lister a spook? You decide: the FBI’s most recent release included more than 50 pages that were heavily censored for unspecified "national security" reasons. The agency also withheld five pages concerning Pyramid International Security Consultants, Lister’s Newport Beach-based company, which had offices in El Salvador and pitched "security work" to Salvadoran military officials, including death squad founder Roberto D’Aubuisson. The FBI said those documents "belonged to another government agency" but refused to identify that agency.

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