(August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) Gary Webb was an American i nvestigative reporter best known for his 1996 D ark Alliance series of articles (about CIA involvement in cocaine trafficking into the US.) written for the San Jose Mercury News and later published as a book. In the three-part series, Webb investigated Nicaraguans linked to the C IA -backed Contras who had smuggled cocaine into the U.S. Their smuggled cocaine was distributed as crack cocaine in Los Angeles , with the profits funneled back to the Contras. Webb also alleged that this influx of Nicaraguan-supplied cocaine sparked, and significantly fueled, the widespread c rack cocaine epidemic that swept through many U.S. cities during the 1980's. According to Webb, the CIA was aware of the cocaine transactions and the large s hipments of drugs into the U.S. by Contra personnel. Webb charged that the R eagan administration shielded inner-...