Recently disclosed files related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy further document a covert operation by the CIA targeting the Soviet Union. According to the documents, American spies aimed to sabotage a cargo shipment bound for the USSR to cause both financial and spiritual harm. It was expected that the operation would result in a financial loss of between $350,000 and $400,000 at that time.

Newly revealed files on the JFK assassination in the 1960s uncovered that 800 bags of sugar sent from Cuba to the Soviet Union were contaminated by American spies. One of the files analyzed by the Washington Post sheds light on the CIA’s “covert operation” just a few months before the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

BEGINNING WORK TO CONTAMINATE THE SHIPMENT In August of the same year, the CIA learned that a cargo ship was carrying 80,000 90-kilogram brown sugar sacks to the USSR. American spies then decided to launch a special operation to contaminate the shipment. They found out that the ship would briefly dock in Puerto Rico for hull repairs and would need to unload part of its cargo.

800 SUCCESSFULLY CONTAMINATED The Washington Post reported, “With an undetectable and untraceable covert operation, 800 of these sugar bags were successfully contaminated.” According to the CIA, the contaminated bags would spoil the entire shipment, making it “unfit for human or animal consumption.” Allegedly, the aim was to disturb the Soviet people’s life pleasure, not poison them.

“AIM WAS TO DESTROY CONSUMER PLEASURE” The spies stated, “The contaminant we used would give sugar an indelible, irreparable, stomach-churning, bitter taste that no process could remove.” It was argued that this was “in no way hazardous to health.” The masterminds behind the operation believed that this move would “ruin the consumer’s enjoyment of any food or drink for a long time.”

$400,000 LOSS According to the document, it was expected that the operation would cause a financial loss of between $350,000 and $400,000 to the Soviet Union at the time. Russia’s RT news agency could not find any Soviet data on the case, keeping the fate of the shipment uncertain.

US EMBARGO ON CUBA In 1960, the US imposed its first major embargo on Cuba, halting all sugar purchases from the country. Washington also compelled NATO allies to stop importing sugar from Cuba.

Subsequently, the Soviet Union stepped in and became one of Cuba’s major sugar importers.