sillyputty
Banned
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- Aug 31, 2011
I present to you, Barry Seal.
Its amazing how much of this stuff is in the public domain and you all REFUSE to look it up.
Whatever, keep supporting the system and not asking questions.
Also, before you say "this is all wikipedia!" ...check the sources at the bottom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Seal
[h1]Barry Seal[/h1][table][tr][th=""]Barry Seal[/th][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Born[/th][td]Adler Berriman Seal
July 16, 1939
Baton Rouge, Louisiana[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Died[/th][td]February 19, 1986
Baton Rouge, Louisiana[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Cause[/th][td]Gunshot[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Charge(s)[/th][td]Conspiracy to smuggle narcotics[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Occupation[/th][td]Pilot[/td][/tr][/table]
Adler Berriman Seal (July 16, 1939 – February 19, 1986), better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agencyand the Medellín Cartel.
[h2][edit] Early life[/h2]
Seal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and began flying at the age of 15. In 1955, he received his pilot's license at the age of 16 and joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), whose members at the time also included Lee Harvey Oswald andDavid Ferrie.[sup][2][/sup]
[h2][edit] Military/CIA work[/h2]
Seal was later linked through a dated photograph to Operation 40, a covert CIA operation whose members included; Tosh Plumlee, Frank Sturgis, future CIA Director Porter Goss and anti-Castro operatives involved in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
He also joined US Army Special Forces to continue flight training. In 1966, Seal went to work for TWA as a flight engineer and later became the youngest 747 pilot in the nation. He flew transcontinental flights for TWA until he was fired after he agreed to fly plastic explosives from Miami to Mexico for an anti-Castro group. The buyer turned out to be a Federal Agent and he was arrested. He lost his job with TWA and became a private aviation consultant for groups in Latin America, which led to a career in drug trafficking.[sup][3][/sup]
[h2][edit] Drug smuggler[/h2]
In 1980, Seal began working for the Ochoa family and the Medellín Cartel transporting more lucrative cocaine shipments.[sup][4][/sup]
After he made contacts with various Latin American drug producing organizations Seal began to develop his smuggling strategy. By 1981 he worked mainly for the Ochoa family and the Medellín Cartel transporting more lucrative cocaineshipments. This is according to the Frontline documentary on the "drug war". He then became one of the largest transportation rings for the cartel in the US.[sup][4][/sup]
Seal began his drug smuggling career in 1976 after he lost his job with TWA. He initially worked with South American cannabis growers. Then he began to move cocaine shipments along with his general smuggling business. In 1979 he was arrested in Honduras and spent nine months in jail. Once released he met another contract pilot, William Roger Reaves, who agreed to introduce him to the Ochoa family. The Ochoas with Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez as their leader, headed theMedellín Cartel.[sup][5][/sup]
After successful runs into his homebase in Louisiana he moved operations to an infamous airport facility in Mena, Arkansas. There he owned and operated many planes and helicopters and advanced radar equipment. This includes the C-123transport plane which was used famously in the Nicaragua sting operation. "All of his aircraft were equipped with the most expensive cryptic radio communications we had ever seen at that time," said DEA Agent Ernest Jacobsen. The operation was very successful until Seal was indicted on conspiracy to smuggleQuaaludes into Florida in 1984.[sup][6][/sup] While operating for the Medellín Cartel, Seal went by the alias, "Ellis Mackenzie."[sup][7][/sup]
[h2][edit] Undercover Informant[/h2]
In order to avoid a long prison sentence, Seal contacted law enforcement authorities. He was turned down initially by local prosecutors and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), agents in Miami. He flew to Washington D.C. and contacted agents in the Vice President's drug task force. After some deliberation they decided to use Seal as a high level informant against the Medellín Cartel.[sup][8][/sup]According the Frontline Godfather of Cocaine Investigation, "Jake Jacobsen was Seal's DEA handler. Jacobsen still has the high-tech message encrypter which Seal gave him." Ernest "Jake" Jacobson was the DEA agent assigned to Seal during this period.[sup][6][/sup] In order to mitigate his 1984 arrest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for money laundering and Quaalude smuggling, he agreed to testify against his former employers and associates in the drug trade, putting several of them in jail. Among those Seal testified against were Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands Norman Saunders and members of the Medellín Cartel. Seal also testified before the President's Commission on Organized Crime in October 1985.[sup][9][/sup]
Using a concealed camera installed by the CIA, Seal took pictures during theNicaragua sting operation that clearly showed Pablo Escobar, Jorge Ochoa, and other members the Colombian Cartel loading kilos of cocaine on to a C-123 transport plane. Also Frederico Vaughan, an associate of Tomas Borges of the Interior Ministry of Nicaragua was photographed with Sandanista Soldiers helping load the plane.
Seal's demise began when Dianne Feinstein allegedly leaked information about the DEA operation for political purposes; this eventually led to the Cartel identifying him as an informant and assassinating him.
Seal was both a smuggler and an informant for DEA in this sting operationagainst the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. In 1984 Seal flew from Nicaragua to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida with a shipment of cocainethat had been allegedly brokered through the Sandinista government.[sup][1![0]](/styles/default/xenforo/NTemojis/alien.gif "Alien 0]")
[/sup] This cocaine was seized by the DEA, and was never received by the cartel's distribution handlers in Florida, which immediately caused suspicion in Medellín pointing to Barry Seal as the person responsible for this lost shipment.[sup][5][/sup]
A story appeared in the Washington Times in 1984 describing the infiltration of the Medellín cartel's operations in Panama and Nicaragua.[sup][11][/sup] The story was based on a leak from a congresswoman(Diane Feinstein), whom in turn had been briefed by Oliver North, who in turn claims he had been ordered to do so by a higher authority. The alleged purpose was to prove the Nicaraguan Sandinistas' involvement in the drug trade and to build support for the Contra war effort. This leak and subsequent controversy eventually led to the Iran Contra Affairwhich unraveled a year later.[sup][12][/sup]
The The Wall Street Journal also printed the story. The media coverage indirectly exposed Seal's involvement in the operation. Also the articles exposed Colombian cartel leaders and a Nicaraguan Interior Minister who were photographed moving cocaine onto an aircraft. Despite these pressures, Seal went ahead and testified the pictures taken during the trip showed Sandinista officials in NIcaragua brokering a cocaine deal with members of Colombia's Medellín Cartel, One month after Seal's death on March 16, 1986, President Reagan showed one of the photographs Seal took on national television, to bolster Congressional support for the Contras, He suggested that a top ranking Sandinista official was involved in drug smuggling.[sup][11][/sup]
DEA officials in Washington denied the claim a few days later, pointing out that the Nicaraguan was a local fixer. Regardless, the publicity accorded the sting, combined with Seal's assassination, led to years of speculation that the smuggler had close ties to the CIA.[sup][9][/sup]
As part of his plea agreement, Seal was ordered to a halfway house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. where he was murdered by hired Colombian assassins for the Medellin Cartel. His story was made into a film in 1991 by HBO, Doublecrossed (he was acted by Dennis Hopper).
[h2][edit] Death[/h2]
On February 19, 1986, Barry Seal was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in front of a branch of the Salvation Army on Airline Hwy, where he was required to stay as a condition of his plea bargain, making him an easy target for retaliation. As he sat in his parked Cadillac, a man carrying a Mac-10 machine pistol approached him. He then emptied a magazine into his body, neck and head, killing Seal instantly, which brought the DEA's most important investigation to an end. Colombian assassins sent by the Medellín Cartel were apprehended while trying to leave Louisiana soon after Seal's murder.[sup][13][/sup]
In 1987, Luis Carlo Quintero-Cruz (the trigger man), Miguel Velez, and Bernardo Antonio Vasquez, were convicted of the slaying of Barry Seal and sentenced to life in prison.[sup][14][/sup]
[h2][edit] References[/h2][h2][edit] Further reading[/h2]
Its amazing how much of this stuff is in the public domain and you all REFUSE to look it up.
Whatever, keep supporting the system and not asking questions.
Also, before you say "this is all wikipedia!" ...check the sources at the bottom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Seal
[h1]Barry Seal[/h1][table][tr][th=""]Barry Seal[/th][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Born[/th][td]Adler Berriman SealJuly 16, 1939
Baton Rouge, Louisiana[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Died[/th][td]February 19, 1986
Baton Rouge, Louisiana[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Cause[/th][td]Gunshot[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Charge(s)[/th][td]Conspiracy to smuggle narcotics[/td][/tr][tr][th="row"]Occupation[/th][td]Pilot[/td][/tr][/table]
Adler Berriman Seal (July 16, 1939 – February 19, 1986), better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agencyand the Medellín Cartel.
[h2][edit] Early life[/h2]
Seal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and began flying at the age of 15. In 1955, he received his pilot's license at the age of 16 and joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), whose members at the time also included Lee Harvey Oswald andDavid Ferrie.[sup][2][/sup]
[h2][edit] Military/CIA work[/h2]
Seal was later linked through a dated photograph to Operation 40, a covert CIA operation whose members included; Tosh Plumlee, Frank Sturgis, future CIA Director Porter Goss and anti-Castro operatives involved in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
He also joined US Army Special Forces to continue flight training. In 1966, Seal went to work for TWA as a flight engineer and later became the youngest 747 pilot in the nation. He flew transcontinental flights for TWA until he was fired after he agreed to fly plastic explosives from Miami to Mexico for an anti-Castro group. The buyer turned out to be a Federal Agent and he was arrested. He lost his job with TWA and became a private aviation consultant for groups in Latin America, which led to a career in drug trafficking.[sup][3][/sup]
[h2][edit] Drug smuggler[/h2]
In 1980, Seal began working for the Ochoa family and the Medellín Cartel transporting more lucrative cocaine shipments.[sup][4][/sup]
After he made contacts with various Latin American drug producing organizations Seal began to develop his smuggling strategy. By 1981 he worked mainly for the Ochoa family and the Medellín Cartel transporting more lucrative cocaineshipments. This is according to the Frontline documentary on the "drug war". He then became one of the largest transportation rings for the cartel in the US.[sup][4][/sup]
Seal began his drug smuggling career in 1976 after he lost his job with TWA. He initially worked with South American cannabis growers. Then he began to move cocaine shipments along with his general smuggling business. In 1979 he was arrested in Honduras and spent nine months in jail. Once released he met another contract pilot, William Roger Reaves, who agreed to introduce him to the Ochoa family. The Ochoas with Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez as their leader, headed theMedellín Cartel.[sup][5][/sup]
After successful runs into his homebase in Louisiana he moved operations to an infamous airport facility in Mena, Arkansas. There he owned and operated many planes and helicopters and advanced radar equipment. This includes the C-123transport plane which was used famously in the Nicaragua sting operation. "All of his aircraft were equipped with the most expensive cryptic radio communications we had ever seen at that time," said DEA Agent Ernest Jacobsen. The operation was very successful until Seal was indicted on conspiracy to smuggleQuaaludes into Florida in 1984.[sup][6][/sup] While operating for the Medellín Cartel, Seal went by the alias, "Ellis Mackenzie."[sup][7][/sup]
[h2][edit] Undercover Informant[/h2]
In order to avoid a long prison sentence, Seal contacted law enforcement authorities. He was turned down initially by local prosecutors and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), agents in Miami. He flew to Washington D.C. and contacted agents in the Vice President's drug task force. After some deliberation they decided to use Seal as a high level informant against the Medellín Cartel.[sup][8][/sup]According the Frontline Godfather of Cocaine Investigation, "Jake Jacobsen was Seal's DEA handler. Jacobsen still has the high-tech message encrypter which Seal gave him." Ernest "Jake" Jacobson was the DEA agent assigned to Seal during this period.[sup][6][/sup] In order to mitigate his 1984 arrest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for money laundering and Quaalude smuggling, he agreed to testify against his former employers and associates in the drug trade, putting several of them in jail. Among those Seal testified against were Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands Norman Saunders and members of the Medellín Cartel. Seal also testified before the President's Commission on Organized Crime in October 1985.[sup][9][/sup]
Using a concealed camera installed by the CIA, Seal took pictures during theNicaragua sting operation that clearly showed Pablo Escobar, Jorge Ochoa, and other members the Colombian Cartel loading kilos of cocaine on to a C-123 transport plane. Also Frederico Vaughan, an associate of Tomas Borges of the Interior Ministry of Nicaragua was photographed with Sandanista Soldiers helping load the plane.
Seal's demise began when Dianne Feinstein allegedly leaked information about the DEA operation for political purposes; this eventually led to the Cartel identifying him as an informant and assassinating him.
Seal was both a smuggler and an informant for DEA in this sting operationagainst the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. In 1984 Seal flew from Nicaragua to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida with a shipment of cocainethat had been allegedly brokered through the Sandinista government.[sup][1
[/sup] This cocaine was seized by the DEA, and was never received by the cartel's distribution handlers in Florida, which immediately caused suspicion in Medellín pointing to Barry Seal as the person responsible for this lost shipment.[sup][5][/sup]A story appeared in the Washington Times in 1984 describing the infiltration of the Medellín cartel's operations in Panama and Nicaragua.[sup][11][/sup] The story was based on a leak from a congresswoman(Diane Feinstein), whom in turn had been briefed by Oliver North, who in turn claims he had been ordered to do so by a higher authority. The alleged purpose was to prove the Nicaraguan Sandinistas' involvement in the drug trade and to build support for the Contra war effort. This leak and subsequent controversy eventually led to the Iran Contra Affairwhich unraveled a year later.[sup][12][/sup]
The The Wall Street Journal also printed the story. The media coverage indirectly exposed Seal's involvement in the operation. Also the articles exposed Colombian cartel leaders and a Nicaraguan Interior Minister who were photographed moving cocaine onto an aircraft. Despite these pressures, Seal went ahead and testified the pictures taken during the trip showed Sandinista officials in NIcaragua brokering a cocaine deal with members of Colombia's Medellín Cartel, One month after Seal's death on March 16, 1986, President Reagan showed one of the photographs Seal took on national television, to bolster Congressional support for the Contras, He suggested that a top ranking Sandinista official was involved in drug smuggling.[sup][11][/sup]
DEA officials in Washington denied the claim a few days later, pointing out that the Nicaraguan was a local fixer. Regardless, the publicity accorded the sting, combined with Seal's assassination, led to years of speculation that the smuggler had close ties to the CIA.[sup][9][/sup]
As part of his plea agreement, Seal was ordered to a halfway house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. where he was murdered by hired Colombian assassins for the Medellin Cartel. His story was made into a film in 1991 by HBO, Doublecrossed (he was acted by Dennis Hopper).
[h2][edit] Death[/h2]
On February 19, 1986, Barry Seal was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in front of a branch of the Salvation Army on Airline Hwy, where he was required to stay as a condition of his plea bargain, making him an easy target for retaliation. As he sat in his parked Cadillac, a man carrying a Mac-10 machine pistol approached him. He then emptied a magazine into his body, neck and head, killing Seal instantly, which brought the DEA's most important investigation to an end. Colombian assassins sent by the Medellín Cartel were apprehended while trying to leave Louisiana soon after Seal's murder.[sup][13][/sup]
In 1987, Luis Carlo Quintero-Cruz (the trigger man), Miguel Velez, and Bernardo Antonio Vasquez, were convicted of the slaying of Barry Seal and sentenced to life in prison.[sup][14][/sup]
[h2][edit] References[/h2][h2][edit] Further reading[/h2]
- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/1309.html
- http://www.derelictgunslinger.com/book-excerpts-and-notes/chapter-two/ John B. Camp
- http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/12/u...-accused-of-murdering-drug-ring-informer.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/14/us/murder-verdicts-in-drug-ring-case.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/15/us/colombians-given-life-terms-in-drug-ring-slaying.html
- http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/barry_seal/1.html
- https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/append.html
- Max Mermelstein: "The Man Who Made it Snow." by Robin Moore and Richard Smitten
- "The Kingpin and his many connections" Michael Haddigan, The Arkansas Gazette
- Terry Reed and John Cummings, Compromised: Clinton, Bush, and the CIA(Clandestine Publishing, 1995) ISBN 1-883955-02-5
- Daniel Hopsicker, "Barry and the Boys:The CIA, the Mob and America's Secret History" (Mad Cow Press 2006) ISBN 978-0-9706591-7-0
- http://archive.gao.gov/d26t7/139919.pdf US Senate Commission Report On Organized Crime: Barry Seal Noted on Page 21.
- http://www.afp.gov.au/media_releases/national/2001/australias_largest_cocaine_seizure_destroyed.html
