A 1986 investigation by a sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the Kerry Committee), found that "the Contra drug links included[,]" amongst other connections, " .... Payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for "humanitarian assistance" to the Contras, in some cases after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges, in others while traffickers were under active investigation by these same agencies."