Operation 40

Operation 40
Active1960–1972
CountryUnited States United States of America
Cuba Cuba
Branch Central Intelligence Agency
TypeParamilitary force
Guerilla warfare organization
RoleBlack ops
Sabotage
Targeted killing
Covert operations
Guerilla warfare
Asymmetric warfare
Espionage
Counter-intelligence
EngagementsBay of Pigs Invasion
Commanders
Director of the Central Intelligence AgencyAllen W. Dulles
Vice President of the United StatesRichard M. Nixon
Chief of Naval OperationsArleigh Burke
National Security AdvisorGordon Gray
Secretary of StateLivingston T. Merchant

Operation 40 was the code name for a top-secret Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored counterintelligence and counterinsurgency group composed of CIA officers and anti-Castro Cuban exiles. The group was established in 1960 to target the new communist regime in Cuba, and it participated in the planning and execution of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. If the invasion had proved successful, the group would have aided in forming a right-wing government while purging Castro supporters and other left dissidents. In the 1960s, Operation 40 continued to function unofficially in Florida as a counterintelligence unit. It was disbanded in the early 1970s due to allegations that Operation 40 personnel were involved in cocaine and heroin smuggling.