Nearly 23 years ago today, Oliver North began his ignominious testimony before the US Congress. The gap tooth ex-Marine became a darling of the far right, despite rumors of drug smuggling that have long swirled around Oliver Northâs illegal funding of the Contras in Nicaragua. (Although North routinely denies the charges, it doesnât take much to put together pretty good circumstantial evidence that Oliver North did indeed arrange for drugs to enter the United States in order to fund the Contra and ex-Somoza national guard in their continuing illegal war against Nicaragua. ) In fact, Oliver Northâs own notebooks indict him.