The DEA had been onto him for a long time. In the meantime, we are receiving media queries on Mena, most recently from Michael Isikoff of Newsweek n 18 July. CIA and DEA activities flowed out of Mena in the Clinton years. -Daily Mail Online, The movie proposes that Barry Seal's first foray into smuggling drugs happened in 1980 after he was kidnapped while refueling his plane in Colombia. Well take it from here. Buddy Young that little beady-faced fellow, and said he was with Clinton at Mena. He carries it around and begins spending it, which attracts the attention of the local authorities. Undercover cameras installed on Seal's plane captured photos on the tarmac of a Nicaraguan airport. Brown says Clinton told him not to worry. The CIA stonewalled the release of information now sought by Judicial Watch on the Mena Airport controversy, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. 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. Many names in the documents have been redacted. He was not only Gov. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); 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. In the years that followed his split from Clinton, Brown investigated white-collar crime for the Arkansas State Police. In 1986, Colombian hitmen caught up with Seal in Baton Rouge, shooting him to death in his white Cadillac. I guess he also thought Colombians would stick out like a sore thumb in Louisiana and they wouldn't come here." Some facts, however, are indisputable. In other words: nothing to see here, move on. The gunman hurried into a waiting Buick, which sped away. In its review of the 2017 movie "American Made" -- about Seal -- the New York Times called it the Conspiratorial Industrial Complex. He took it out for a test flight and never came back." As author Del Hahn states in his book about Barry Seal's life, Smuggler's End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal, there is no evidence to support claims that Barry Seal worked for the CIA. The pine and hardwood forests of the Ouachita Mountains surrounding it have long been an outlaws paradise, home to generations of moonshiners and red-dirt marijuana farmers. It was also just seventy miles south of the sprawling Fort Chaffee Army Base at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The mysteries of Mena revolve around a drug-smuggling pilot named Barry Seal. You can trust him, but the network apparently yielded to White House pressure. 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. Creating Epstein: Bill Barr Leslie Wexner & the CIA, Bonnie's Clyde: The True Story of Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell, Revisiting Mena, Bill Clinton, the CIA & Barry Seal. Bushs Attorney General was William Barr. Dr. Faucis "SHADY" Gain of Function Research! Seal's exploits brought him into close contact with infamous figures like Medelln cartel kingpins Pablo Escobar and Jorge Ochoa and Panama dictator Manuel Noriega and he was . The is the latest repackaging of allegations previously made by the Wall Street Journal. 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. While there, he had a chance meeting with Jorge Ochoa's New Orleans business manager. Barry Seal, courtesy of the Baton Rouge Advocate. When Bill Clinton became president, Mena got a closer look. The Sandinistas overthrew Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending 46 years of dictatorship by the Somoza family. "Allegations later surfaced that many of the gun shipments sent to Nicaragua as part of the Iran-Contra Affair were sent from the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport. Walker said a huge dark-green military plane was parked there, and that when he expressed surprise at seeing a military plane at Mena, Clinton said it was not military; it served another purpose. Past Addresses: See available information. 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. He also says he told Seal he wanted no part of what was happening; then he left. In essence, not only was the airport used to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States, but it was also a departure point for weapons used to arm the Contras in Nicaragua.". "It's my understanding that no drugs ever came to the airport," said Fred Ogden, the current airport manager. 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. The scene was actually inspired by something that happened while director Doug Liman and Tom Cruise were training for the movie. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; foundations, and corporations and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 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. var _gaq = _gaq || []; Barry and his wife talked about going into witness protection, but like in the movie, he decided against it. 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. 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. Exclusive: Tom Cruise's portrayal of drug-smuggler-turned-government-informant Barry Seal is a fast-paced visit back to the Reagan era's shadowy world of the CIA, cocaine and secret wars . Executing secret missions for the government in the movie might add a sort of patriotism and redeeming quality to his character, but in real life Barry Seal was a drug smuggler first and foremost. He was murdered on February 19, 1986, by contract killers hired by the cartel. I have re-typed two documents that were scrubbed off the internet. ABC was also told that brown had failed a psychological test. Seal flipped, becoming a valuable government informant. And the U.S. was covertly backing the Contras. His character is inspired by the stories we learned about Barry." The memorable scene never happened in real life. It was originally an Air Force transport plane Seal dubbed it the Fat Lady. The pilot of the plane was Barry Seal, a legendary drug trafficker. Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. A July 17, 1984 front-page Washington Times article by Edmund Jacoby described a link between Nicaragua's Sandinista government and the Medelln drug cartel. "The estimated value of the narcotics smuggled through the facility is $3 [billion] to $5 billion. Brown says he never saw the bags again. "Tom Cruise doesn't look like Barry Seal. As stated in the previous question, there is no strong evidence to confirm that Barry Seal was working with the CIA prior to becoming an informant after his arrest in 1983. Seal, he says, laughed, and told Brown that all he had wanted him to do was sit back for the ride. Then he gave Brown an envelope with $2,500 in cash not marked money, not banded money, just twenties, fifties, mostly twenties, used money, like you just went out and spent.. Brown and the co-pilot, who never exchanged any more than a few words, remained on board. The Judicial Watch lawsuit seeks the report of a November 1996 CIA investigation into drug running, money laundering and intelligence gathering at Mena. Arcadia Inc Plant / Vernon. Two duffel bags were put on board the plane at Tegucigalpa. 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. Brown recalls that on the morning of this particular flight, Seal had told him to drive to Mena Intermountain Regional Airport, a remote air strip near the Oklahoma border. Later, after Seal's cover was suspiciously blown, President Reagan used the photo shown below in a 1986 television address to the nation. 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.. He spent his spare time hanging around the old Downtown Airport, now Independence Park, working odd jobs in exchange for flight time. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. White Kendall, approached ABC, As Time reported, Kendall was working very, very hard to keep Whitewater out of the headlines. Meanwhile, Betsey Wright, a Clinton political fixer, told ABC that Brown was a pathological liar, even though his personnel file in Arkansas abounded with recommendations some from Clinton, and even one from Dr. Joycelyn Elders. About 25 pages of that trove refer to Arkansas or Mena. The cartel tells Barry that they'll deal with JB, a suggestion that Barry opposes. "Doug and I are both aviators, so we both love to fly.". (function() { As part of his reduced sentence, the judge had ordered Barry to spend his nights, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., at a Salvation Army halfway house for six months. Seal, Brown says, talked knowledgeably about airplanes, and spoke of an operation he was planning. Three early drafts of the essay contain interpolations in Clintons handwriting. The name of another person under investigation was redacted. Barry Seal, courtesy of the Baton Rouge Advocate. Lisa Seal Frigon, Barry's daughter from his first marriage, sued Universal, claiming that the studio should have purchased Barry's life rights from her, not his third wife Deborah who they paid $350,000. 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. Regardless, Jacoby's article led to the abandonment of the final piece of Barry Seal's undercover operation. And for thirty years, every attempt to get to the bottom of events at Menafederal, state, judicial, journalistichas failed. He had previously been married to Barbara Bottoms (m. 1963-1971) and Lynn Ross (m. 1971-1972). Current Address: ZGFJ N 18th St, Phoenix, AZ. Msg&data rates may apply. Dwayne Brown says he knew his brother had made some unexplained trips out of the country. Three Colombians eventually were arrested and convicted of the murder. I didnt make the connection then, but it seems significant now: if youre going to secretly run arms to controversial U.S. allies, youll likely want some military support. Miguel Velez was the man driving the getaway car. Brown says he realized then that everything is going to come out. Nonetheless, he still seemed reluctant to disclose all he knew. "I've heard that stated by a lot of people.". Scared the s---- out of me just taking off. Brown says that when the plane took off, he was sitting on a bench behind the two pilots. Also, view a news story about Barry Seal's death. The mysterious events surrounding Mena Airfield in remote western Arkansas during the gubernatorial reign of Bill Clinton have teased the popular imagination for more than three decades. "At the time Seal started cooperating with DEA Miami, he had an established base at Rich Mountain Aviation and had frequent contact with subjects," according to the document. Author Del Hahn, a former FBI agent who wrote the book about Seal titled Smuggler's End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal, told Vice, "Seal thought he was smarter and cleverer than the Ochoas," who are one of the founding families of the Medelln Cartel. 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. Were suing the CIA for the full inspector general report and we want documents from other agencies as well. I understand that Fred Hitz or someone from his staff, along with other CIA officers will brief Congressman Leach on Friday 21 July in an attempt to address his concerns about these and other allegations. "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. In fact, even the Wikipedia links Ive included in this paragraph are mostly lies. the Colombian drug cartel led by Pablo Escobar Biography No. The lawsuit claims that the pilots were overworked and that the crash happened after a 12-hour workday. The pilot of the plane was Barry Seal, a legendary drug trafficker. The second is the article they reference. Money from the sale of weapons to Iran was used to help fund the rebels in Nicaragua. A flamboyant businessman who continued to deal in aircraft, Seal lost several planes among assets seized in Louisiana and Arkansas in a jeopardy assessment by the Internal Revenue Service in a $29,487,718 tax lien placed against his property. Eventually, Brown recalls, Seal startled him by yelling, Well, you all hang on. According to a 1988 Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, Seal's associates at the Mena airport were also being investigated. Approved for Release Date:September 28, 2009. When he was deposed, Bender was shown a photograph of Buddy Young. Follow him on Twitter @micah_morrison. Then, he says, they regained altitude, by then they descended again, and thats when these two crazy bastards got these palettes and roll them out on casters. Parachutes opened from the palettes. The extent of Barry Seal's involvement with the CIA in the 1980s has provided fuel for speculation and conspiracy theories. Operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) approaches Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) and tells him, "We need you to deliver stuff for us." "Despite the availability of evidence sufficient for an indictment on money laundering charges, and over the strong protests of state and federal law enforcement officials, the cases were dropped," according to the report. Thats when he said, You having any fun yet.. Cops and investigators surround Barry Seal's body in 1986. Last March, in a legally binding deposition, trooper Larry Patterson also said that Clinton knew about Mena. In another deposition in the case, John Bender, a mechanic, says he saw Clinton at Mena three times in the summer of 1985. 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. We had nothing zeroto do with it, and everybody whos ever looked into it knows that.. On Watch: The #COVID19 Crisis on our Southern Border the Media ISN'T Coveri On Watch: Marxism & the Current Insurrection in America. In Mena, meanwhile, things were getting stranger. "He put the airplane into a parabolic arc and pinned me against the ceiling, and right in that moment, I had this inspiration. Seal's Drug Enforcement Administration file also supports this, noting that he was smuggling marijuana as early as 1976, then adding cocaine to his resume in 1978. In February 1986, Seal was killed outside . Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. "The information indicates that Seal was an informant for DEA at the time but also working as an operative of the CIA. He relocated to a small regional airport in Mena, Arkansas, which had a population of only 5,000. He hands wads of cash to a kid on a bike, telling the boy, "You never saw me." In the film, his abductors take him to a secret airstrip in the Colombian jungle where three businessmen, including Pablo Escobar, make him an offer he can't pass up. After being caught in Honduras with 40 kilograms of cocaine in 1979, Barry spent nine months in a Honduran jail. The FBI in Little Rock began investigating Seal's operation at the Mena airport in February 1984, according to the recently released FBI document. Also said that Clinton knew about Mena been married to Barbara Bottoms ( m. 1971-1972 ) me just off. The murder some unexplained trips out of Mena in the 1980s has provided for! 'S death originally an Air Force transport plane Seal dubbed it the Fat Lady the Colombian cartel... An Air Force transport plane Seal dubbed it the Fat Lady February 19, 1986, Colombian hitmen caught with... The full inspector general report and we want documents from other agencies as well three drafts! 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