Secord & Hakim marked up arms 300%
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Snapshot · Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 1
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Aug 8, 2026
Where this was said
The Enterprise: An Illegal Arms Company at the White House's Service
At 38:47 · chapter starts 32:04
The Contras had $32 million but no way to spend it — they lacked the black market contacts to buy weapons. Oliver North turned to Richard Secord, a retired Air Force Major General who had been forced out of the service because of his connection to CIA operative Edwin Wilson, himself later sentenced to 52 years for arming Libya with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4. Secord partnered with Iranian-American businessman Albert Hakim to create the Stanford Technology Trading Group — universally known as the Enterprise — a private arms company using Swiss bank accounts to move untraceable funds. Secord and Hakim marked up every shipment by up to 300%, reinvesting profits into planes, airstrips, staff, and contracted airlines. As the south Nicaraguan Contra faction proved unable to manage its own procurement, North moved Secord into the role of direct manager: buying the arms himself, then dropping them from planes over Contra camps. Any remaining pretense of arm's-length legality evaporated.
Saudi Arabia donated $32M to Contras
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
Edwin Wilson: CIA Spook, Arms Dealer, Libya's Supplier
CIA operative Edwin Wilson armed Muammar Gaddafi with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4 hidden in barrels of mud and flew them to Libya himself. He was sentenced to 52 years and served 12 in solitary. He was also a founder of the same arms network Oliver North contracted for the Contras.
Arms dealer Edwin Wilson: 52-year sentence
CIA operative Edwin Wilson, part of the illegal arms network used by Oliver North, was sentenced to 52 years for supplying Libya with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4.
Enterprise: shell company with Swiss accounts
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim set up the Stanford Technology Trading Group — known as 'the Enterprise' — with untraceable Swiss bank accounts to funnel money and arms to the Contras.
The Enterprise: Shell Companies, Swiss Banks, and a 300% Markup
Secord and Hakim set up the Stanford Technology Trading Group — 'the Enterprise' — with Swiss bank accounts, bought planes, rented airstrips, hired staff, and marked up every arms shipment by up to 300%. They were running a fully operational illegal arms company with the White House as their client.
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