A C-123K cargo plane, like this one, was out tted at the Mena airport and ew with various cameras to obtain photographic evi- dence of the Sandinistas in the act of smuggling narcotics, according to an entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo). "The information indicates that Seal was an informant for DEA at the time but also working as an operative of the CIA. Seal, a government informant, was murdered outside a halfway house on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. Benjamin /Mary Seal son Adler M 1940 census address 315 Lovers Lane Baton.Rouge Louisiana (next hwy73/North blvd).lovers lane White house Barry was the 1st son.Seal Entrepreneur.Texaco Service station .called B.C. Barr opposed the independent counsels investigation of wrongdoing in the White House and facilitated Bushs famous1992 Christmas Eve pardonsof six of the co-conspirators of Iran-Contra. One passage discusses the deductibility of charitable donations, and another the length of residency required in Washington before tax liability is incurred. "I can state absolutely that Oliver North had nothing to do with my story as far as I knew, or as far as I know today," said Jacoby. Strange events unfolded at Mena, a small city in remote western Arkansas, in the 1980s. CIA and DEA activities flowed out of Mena in the Clinton years. Ultimately, we may find out, as Brown tells us that he has been repeatedly questioned by lawyers working for the Whitewater independent counsel about Clintons association with Lasater at a time when illicit drugs allegedly were flowing into Mena airport. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP . Current Address: HERA E Avalon Dr, Phoenix, AZ. As Slate notes, Seal stuck a plea deal, where he testified in three major drug trials and got five years' probation and six months at a halfway house. This doesn't add up with the true story. Tax records show that, having assessed Seal posthumously for some $86 million in back taxes on his earnings from Mena and elsewhere between 1981 and 1983, even the l.R.S. Bill Clinton? he replied: Yes, sir. Bush's anti-drug task force in hopes of convincing them of his value as an informant. Like in the American Made movie, Barry Seal was allowed to fly out of the country and return with illegal drugs that the feds made sure never reached their targets. A month before that, the Southwest personnel representative for the CIA, Ken Cargile, in a letter to Brown, wrote that I am pleased to nominate you for employment with the Central Intelligence Agency. Another entry in Browns daybook indicates that he had met with another CIA representative only a few days before that. Then both men got into the front set of the car, and Seal reached into the duffel bag, and pulled out a manila envelope with $2,500 in it. The accident didn't happen during filming. UNLOCK PROFILE. Election Law Update, Heavy Lifting Ne NYC Cleans Voter Rolls Thanks To Judicial Watch. _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17438127-1']); His daybook records one visit to Mena by Clinton on May 21, 1984, and he says that he accompanied Clinton to Mena on several other occasions. On Watch: CROSSFIRE HURRICANE Targeting of Trump from A to Z. Other photos like the one below show Federico Vaughan (center, striped shirt), a man that Seal claimed was a top aide of Tomas Borge, the Sandinista Minister of the Interior. He had been arrested in 1972 by the U.S. Customs Service for trying to fly 1,350 pounds of plastic explosives to anti-Castro Cubans via Mexico. In 1961, he joined the Louisiana Army National Guard and served with the 20th Special Forces Group for six years. Goodwin told me and ABC that Brown had passed it. He says that he wanted to go public with his revelations about Mena, but that he did not know whom to tell. He said parts of it could have been provided to people under previous information requests. When he was deposed, Bender was shown a photograph of Buddy Young. The CIAs inspector general investigated and released a terse statement saying no evidence has been found that the CIA was associated with money laundering, narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling or other illegal activities at or around Mena. There was, however, a classified two-week exercise and some contracting for routine aviation-related services.. It is believed that the Colombians put a hit out on Barry after they learned he was going to help the feds with the extradition of Jorge Ochoa from Spain, one of the heads of the Medelln Cartel. "The original information dates back to the activities of a pilot, Barry Seal (now deceased), who is purported to have flown guns to South America from Mena and drugs back into the United States," according to the memo. Watch an interview with the real Barry Seal where he discusses his undercover mission, and listen to President Ronald Reagan talk about the photos Seal obtained on the mission. At present, although there is no reason to believe any of the allegations, we are declining to comment publicly, pending exhaustive searches of DO files, as tasked by ICA. Indeed, when Clinton was a law professor in Fayetteville, Brown was working on an off-campus magazine, the radical Grapevine. The story took on a new life when Bill Clinton ran for president. In the movie, Lucy's brother JB (Caleb Landry Jones) steals money from Barry (Tom Cruise). Brown still has books that Clinton gave him, one being a bar exam study book in which the politician had made some ironic under-linings. Subsequently, the special prosecutor investigating Whitewater subpoenaed Brown to disclose what he knew about Clintons connections to David L. Hale. He identified him as Capt. I guess he also thought Colombians would stick out like a sore thumb in Louisiana and they wouldn't come here." Not all of Barry Seal's heirs were happy with the making of the movie. Embracing his entrepreneurial spirit, as a teenager he started a small business flying ads from his airplane. And the U.S. was covertly backing the Contras. In the meantime, we are receiving media queries on Mena, most recently from Michael Isikoff of Newsweek n 18 July. He gathered information on Medellin cartel kingpins and participated in at least two drug runs to Nicaragua, where the Reagan administration was ramping up operations against the Sandinista government. In 1981, he was making daily deposits of $50,000 into an account at a bank in the Bahamas. In the years that followed his split from Clinton, Brown investigated white-collar crime for the Arkansas State Police. Debbie became Barry's third wife. But Brown says he is lying. Two years later, he would be shot dead in Louisiana. When asked who his source was, Jacoby implied that it was "an aide in the White House" and that Oliver North had the most motivation to release the information. But I was in for a shock, Leveritt writes. Barry Seal's widow, Debbie Seal, and others have wondered why the government didn't do more to protect Seal, whether he wanted the protection or not. is above the law! Seal, a pilot, moved much of his smuggling operation from Baton Rouge to Rich Mountain Aviation at the Mena Intermountain Airport, according to the May 1986 FBI memo. No investigation was blocked. In the American Made movie, Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) crash lands a plane in a suburban neighborhood in an effort to escape the DEA who ordered him to land. "Doug and I are both aviators, so we both love to fly.". This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. Email Address: v EVIO @gmail.com +2 emails. FBI agents in Miami wanted to know what Seal might have told people at Rich Mountain Aviation regarding his smuggling activities, according to the document. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. Inside the plane, according to Brown, were another pilot and two beaners common laborers who looked like Central American Indians. Though the Clinton machine feared him the most, he showed no intention of breaking his silence until a chain of random events made it inevitable. "According to some reports, the [Mena] airport, from 1981 to 1985, was a major transit point for the entrance of cocaine and heroin into the United States," Sherwood wrote. All rights reserved. The Judicial Watch lawsuit seeks the report of a November 1996 CIA investigation into drug running, money laundering and intelligence gathering at Mena. Bushs Attorney General was William Barr. Then Brown says, Seal and the kickers returned, carrying four duffel bags. commission charbonneau liste de noms. The arrests never happened since Seal's cover was blown. -Daily Mail Online, "Mena" refers to the small town in Arkansas where Barry Seal moved his operation, smuggling in drugs to a clandestine airfield under the nose of then-Governor Bill Clinton. In exploring the American Made true story, we discovered that Doug Liman's father, lawyer Arthur L. Liman, ran the Senate investigation into Iran-Contra. According to author Del Hahn, who wrote the book Smuggler's End, next to Barry's yearbook photo was the description, "Full of fun, full of folly" (TIME). The Sandinistas overthrew Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending 46 years of dictatorship by the Somoza family. In its review of the 2017 movie "American Made" -- about Seal -- the New York Times called it the Conspiratorial Industrial Complex. They shared an interest in books, ideas, and night life. (Brown maintains that he never flunked the test; in fact, he was nominated four months after taking it for employment with the agency.). "I resigned from the office in November of 1985, and my successor took over the investigation. During the past few years, the activity at the airstrip has aroused the interest of local law enforcement, who then attempted to conduct some investigations but were blocked by the U.S. No. Yes. Past Addresses: See available information. When I got back from that first trip he knew I had been out doing something, Brown insists. "Tom Cruise doesn't look like Barry Seal. He says he feared he was being set up made a conspirator in an operation he despised. At a press conference in October 1994, for instance, he was asked a rambling question about the remote air strip, and gave an equally rambling answer. JB is fictional. Dwayne Brown says he knew his brother had made some unexplained trips out of the country. It alleges, explicitly and implicitly, that an aircraft operated by a CIA front company in 1984 used the airfield at Mena, Arkansas, as a stating point for weapons supply flights to the Contras in Nicaragua; on the return flights from Honduras, the aircraft allegedly carried illegal narcotics to Mena. However, when a drug shipment was seized by the DEA, the Medellin Cartel blamed Seal for the loss. MENA NOIR: Aircraft pilot Barry Seal, a Baton Rouge native who smuggled drugs into the U.S. for the Medellin Cartel during the 1980s, used this airport in Me. "I initiated a grand jury investigation in relation to money laundering through the Mena airport in 1985," Hutchinson said Friday. "The estimated value of the narcotics smuggled through the facility is $3 [billion] to $5 billion. It turns out Barry flew the plane all the way back to the United States. attorney.". Hahn was part of the task force that pursued Seal in the 1980s. Upset that he has lost his pension and healthcare at TWA, he embraces the idea of making $2,000 per kilo of cocaine smuggled into the United States. I was young and it was impressive." In the 1980s the smallairportin Arkansas known as Mena became part of the largest covert operation in history. alan dershowitz cost per hour; what is pak po chicken; sonamukhi powder benefits; In her suit, Lisa, who is not depicted in the movie, also claimed that there were factual inaccuracies in the script, including the fact that Barry had five children, not three, and that the movie falsely suggests he was an alcoholic and a reckless pilot. The man said that despite the incident, he was still very fond of Barry. The New York Times and "West 57th," a CBS television news show, were working on stories about CIA activities at the Mena airport, according to a 1987 FBI memo released last week. Judicial Watch has launched a new campaign for answers. But there were still questions regarding the Mena airport and people who worked there, according to the FBI memo. I mean I didnt have a chance to tell him anything about it. Also, view a news story about Barry Seal's death. Lasater went to jail for a cocaine connection, as did his friend, Roger Clinton, Bill Clintons brother. Why arent these pilots who flew trafficked minors arrested and charged? Basically, Seal would fly over the guns and smuggle back drugs on his return trip. In the autumn of 1984, Brown found himself seated on a bench inside a cavernous C-123K cargo plane roaring over a Central American jungle. "He stopped in there and, just like that, he asked me out," says Debbie. An "extensive joint investigation" by the FBI, Arkansas State Police and IRS revealed that Barry Seal used the Mena airport for "smuggling activity" from late 1980 until March 1984, according to an internal FBI document released last week. The movie's loose interpretation of the true story is echoed in the trailer when a voice-over by Tom Cruise as Barry Seal tells us that only "some of this sh*t really happened." -Vulture.com, Yes. Hadaway said an informant told him a "narcotic smuggling operation" was headquartered out of the Mena airport and that a man named Barry from Baton Rouge was in charge of it. Set in the year 1978, Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) works as a pilot for Trans World Airlines. The FBI in Little Rock began investigating Seal's operation at the Mena airport in February 1984, according to the recently released FBI document. She was an experienced writer and had prepared for the legal review. On Watch: The #COVID19 Crisis on our Southern Border the Media ISN'T Coveri On Watch: Marxism & the Current Insurrection in America. Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. For a portion of this time, the alleged ringleader of the drug smuggling, Seal, appeared to have been working with the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Agency. forgave the taxes on hundreds of millions in known drug and gun profits over the ensuing two-year period when Seal was officially admitted to be employed by the government. Just prior to the movie's release, news broke that the family of deceased stunt pilot Alan Purwin was suing American Made's producers for wrongful death. And move on, the world did. An "extensive joint investigation" by the FBI, Arkansas State Police and IRS revealed that Barry Seal used the Mena airport for "smuggling activity" from late 1980 until March 1984, according to . He was shot to death by two machinegun-wielding men while behind the wheel of his Cadillac in the . The poster for the movie "American Made," to be released Friday, Sept. 29, shows a grinning, cocky Tom. Using pilots like Barry Seal was a means to an end. While at a bar one night, Barry is found by a man saying his name is Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). And for thirty years, every attempt to get to the bottom of events at Menafederal, state, judicial, journalistichas failed. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? In February 1986, Seal was killed in a hail of machine-gun fire outside a Baton Rouge Salvation Army halfway house. Still unknown at the time, the cartel would go on to make hundreds of millions from the explosion of cocaine use in the U.S. Barry Seal, who became known as "El Gordo" (The Fat Man), ended up being an integral part of that success. As part of the application process, Brown had written an essay: Marxist Influence in Central America. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Jacoby mentioned Seal's mission as evidence, which effectively outed Seal as a government agent. This draws the attention of the CIA. Arkansas State Trooper L.D. Subsequently, Brown says, Seal called him at home, and set up a meeting at Cajuns Wharf, a popular Little Rock watering hole. Seemingly panicked, the White House mistakenly presumed that Brown was talking to ABC News about his involvement with Mena when he was actually discussing Whitewater. In the 1980s, the Mena airport was the reported base of a drug-smuggling, money-laundering and arms-smuggling ring run by Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal, according to an Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Thats when he said, You having any fun yet.. As soon as those searches are complete, we hope to have a crisp statement that distances us from the allegations if the Agencys IGs look into them does not constrain us from doing so. Msg&data rates may apply. The DEA had been onto him for a long time. foundations, and corporations and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. He also says he told Seal he wanted no part of what was happening; then he left. Contributions are received from Barry Seal, courtesy of the Baton Rouge Advocate. Three Colombians eventually were arrested and convicted of the murder. He also referred to Clinton, familiarly, as the guv. BARRY SEAL: He imported drugs and laundered money while working for the federal government. In 1983, the DEA arrested him on drug smuggling charges. The gunman hurried into a waiting Buick, which sped away. The goal was to expose the involvement of the Nicaraguan Sandinista regime as a major supplier of cocaine from Colombia.". Cops and investigators surround Barry Seal's body in 1986. Asa Hutchinson was U.S. attorney for Arkansas' Western District in the early 1980s. I started it and pursued it but was unable to complete it because I left the office. Yes. "There are also allegations that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency used the airport as a base of operations to help train pilots and troops for the intervention in the Nicaraguan uprising by the Contras during the 1980s," according to the encyclopedia entry, which was written by Robert Sherwood of Georgia Military College. In 1986, he was convicted of drug distribution, and lost his state securities license. Like in the movie, the American Made true story reveals that Barry made a living as a commercial airline pilot for several years. Yes. Brown? Counterrevolutionaries, known as Contras, were battling the Sandinistas. No. He had already been flying planes for nearly half his life, earning his student pilot's license at age 15 and pilot's license at 16. He also says he was mindful of the secrecy agreement he had signed with the CIA. Three Colombians eventually were arrested and convicted of the murder. Its now referred to as theIran-Contrascandal. jewish british actresses; how old is meryl lipstein Wouldn't it be fun if they were fooling around in a plane and the plane went into the same kind of parabolic arc and they got pinned against the ceiling?" Phone Number . Dr. Faucis "SHADY" Gain of Function Research! Brown was 28 years old in 1984. Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal (July 16, 1939 - February 19, 1986) was an American commercial airline pilot who became a major drug smuggler for the Medelln Cartel.When Seal was convicted of smuggling charges, he became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and testified in several major drug trials. In American Made, Barry Seal's family consists of his wife and their three children, two boys and one girl, all seen at various stages in their lives throughout the film. Jeffrey Epstein: Predator, Spy plus FULL access to all newsletters. Magruder, Brown says, asked him if he would be interested in paramilitary, counterintelligence and narcotics. Brown, who had worked in narcotics enforcement as a police officer, said he was interested. Arthur, the chief council, investigated the CIA and questioned Col. Oliver North, who is depicted in American Made. Last March, in a legally binding deposition, trooper Larry Patterson also said that Clinton knew about Mena. "Prior to his death, Seal admitted to smuggling large quantities of cocaine from South America (Columbia) to United States and testified before Senate investigative committee," according to the FBI memo, which referred to a telephone call between agents in Little Rock and Miami.
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