The Mena operation reveals the essential reckless of our present president. Judicial Watch has launched a new campaign for answers. Doug Liman had previously modeled Chris Cooper's villain in The Bourne Identity after North, which reveals Liman's feelings about the controversial figure North. In February 1986, Seal was killed in a hail of machine-gun fire outside a Baton Rouge Salvation Army halfway house. He says that he wanted to go public with his revelations about Mena, but that he did not know whom to tell. The White House saw the pictures as proof of the communist Sandinista government's corruption and believed that the photos would help to convince the public of the need to support and arm the rebels (Contras) in Nicaragua. -Daily Mail Online. "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. The gunman was later identified as Luis Carlos Quintero-Cruz. Vincent G Mena, Age 54. Reply HELP for help, STOP to end. Her character in the American Made movie is much more aware and suspicious of her husband's activities, stating that she flat out doesn't trust him, which is the opposite of Seal's real-life wife. 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. country of residence flight check in; nathaniel rateliff gallagher way; filming locations for she out of my league. "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. individuals, Then, he started the engines, and Brown remembers, ThisI mean just thunderous noise. In a fruitless effort to curb irregular migration from Central America the Biden administration is sending the region hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian funding with From Breitbart: 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. Barry Seal was one of the most renowned American dealers that smuggled weapons and drugs in the USA Barry Seal became an aviator at only 16 years old, and as soon as he received his pilot licence, he started smuggling weapons He had strong relations with the Madelln Cartel, i.e. : Then the plane dropped to what Brown calls an altitude a hell of a lot lower than what youd think youd fly. He suspected Seal was trying to evade radar. 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. Terms & conditions/privacy policy apply. Yes. Arcadia Inc Plant / Vernon. Officials at the Arkansas Studies Institute suggested their concerns were legal and financial, associated with vetting the book, but Leveritt wasnt buying it. In fact, even the Wikipedia links Ive included in this paragraph are mostly lies. It would later be serviced and financed by Southern Air Transport, a CIA front company, and it was eventually shot down over Nicaragua in a doomed supply effort to the Contras that left an American, Eugene Hasenfus, a prisoner of the Sandinistas and the CIA link to the Contras revealed. "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. "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 its review of the 2017 movie "American Made" -- about Seal -- the New York Times called it the Conspiratorial Industrial Complex. Counterrevolutionaries, known as Contras, were battling the Sandinistas. 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. Using pilots like Barry Seal was a means to an end. _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17438127-1']); While at a small airport in rural Mena, Arkansas, the notorious smuggler Barry Seal was given protection by Governor Bill Clinton to continue his drug-smuggling, gun-running, money laundering operation but now as a DEA informant and a CIA contract pilot, also set up by Bush. The second is the article they reference. barry seal mena house address. I was young and it was impressive." After Barry spoiler . 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. In his research for the book, the only confirmed connection Hahn could make between the CIA and Barry Seal was in 1984, after Seal had started working as an informant for the DEA. The C-123K also had a history. Brown says he realized then that everything is going to come out. Nonetheless, he still seemed reluctant to disclose all he knew. Soon after, JB is killed by a car bomb. -The Hollywood Reporter, Debbie Seal insists that she was unaware of what her husband was up to. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. "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. Whatever the case, of all the Arkansas troopers who would later admit to knowledge of Clintons high life, Brown was the most hesitant to talk. However, the U.S. needed a way to covertly get the funds and weapons to the rebels. It does seem, however, that Clinton was far less cautious. })(); Clinton appeared to have pressured Hale, the head of an Arkansas lending agency, into making loans to Susan McDougal, the Clintons Whitewater real estate partner. Clinton had been asking him a similar question for months, ever since, with Clintons encouragement, he had applied for a job with the CIA. Why arent these pilots who flew trafficked minors arrested and charged? BEST OF: Left Targets Elon Musk, FBI Investigated Fauci Agency, CA Court Vi BEST OF: Twitter Changed Rules to Ban Trump! The movie's title was changed to put less emphasis on the Arkansas connection, including the possibility that Bill Clinton was aware of what was going on. Three Colombians eventually were arrested and convicted of the murder. 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. It may also never be known whether CIA officials approved or knew of Seals activities, or whether he was operating on his own. He later claimed to have made as much as $50 million running 1,000 pounds of cocaine a month from Colombia. No investigation was blocked.". "In other words, the charges of drug smuggling and money laundering were not enough to warrant the release of information about the use of the airport in the Iran-Contra Affair," wrote Sherwood for the Arkansas encyclopedia. Msg&data rates may apply. Current Address: ZGFJ N 18th St, Phoenix, AZ. In 1981, he was making daily deposits of $50,000 into an account at a bank in the Bahamas. 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. 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. He was also providing Clinton with the use of a private airplane, and entertaining him at various places, including his New Mexico resort, Angel Fire. 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. Two years later, he would be shot dead in Louisiana. An indignant Brown began toying with the idea of exposing the corruption of Arkansas politics. After being caught in Honduras with 40 kilograms of cocaine in 1979, Barry spent nine months in a Honduran jail. 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. Meanwhile, Brown says, he confronted Clinton, asking him if he knew that Seal was dealing in drugs and unreported currency. Two years later, he would be shot dead in Louisiana. -Daily Mail Online, No. -Refinery29, Yes. -Court DocumentsThe 2016 Bryan Cranston movie The Infiltrator also depicts Barry Seal's assassination, but it is historically inaccurate. Seal became a federal informant in March 1984. -The Independent, Not likely. Documents and a surviving crew member tied the shipment to the CIA and the White House, dragging a Seal connection into the Iran-Contra affair. He says that Clinton arrived in a Beech aircraft, and was still there when he left for the day. They shared an interest in books, ideas, and night life. Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Trooper Bobby Walker has told me that sometime in the mid-1980s he was at Mena with Clinton. Counterrevolutionaries, known as Contras, were battling the Sandinistas. ", Copyright 2023, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. Steal $20 Mil in U.S. COVID Relief Funds. Two duffel bags were put on board the plane at Tegucigalpa. "I resigned from the office in November of 1985, and my successor took over the investigation. Brown says Seal told him theres good money to be had. But Brown, says he was out of that game for good. Frigon, who says she administers Seal's estate, contends the estate did not consent. "We're talking about one of the largest drug smugglers in America, and these agents loved him." He later claimed to have made as much as $50 million running 1,000 pounds of cocaine a month from Colombia. 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. Also, view a news story about Barry Seal's death. The assassination happened on February 19, 1986 in the parking lot in front of the Salvation Army building on Airline Highway (U.S. 61) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That game for good in U.S. COVID Relief funds of the largest drug smugglers in America, and my took... 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