Wackenhut Corporation

Wackenhut Corporation is a security and investigative firm founded in 1954 by George R. Wackenhut and three other former FBI Special Agents. Initially named Special Agent Investigators, it expanded to physical security and was renamed Wackenhut Corporation in 1958. Headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, Wackenhut grew to become one of the world's largest security and investigative firms, with operations across the United States and internationally. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as being "led by former officials of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, Defense Department and federal law enforcement."¹³

Operations and Services

Wackenhut provides security and investigative services to businesses, industries, and various U.S. Government agencies. Its services include guard and electronic security for various facilities, personnel background reports, pre-employment screening, polygraph examinations, and criminal investigations. The company also develops sophisticated computerized security systems through its subsidiary, Wackenhut Electronic Systems Corporation.¹

Notable contracts include providing security for the Nevada Test Site, the Alaskan Pipeline, and Lawrence Livermore Labs, as well as numerous American embassies abroad.¹

Leadership and Government Connections

The company's leadership has historically included executives and managers with extensive backgrounds in the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other military and governmental security fields. Its board of directors has featured prominent former government officials such as Stansfield Turner (former CIA director), Clarence Kelley (former FBI director), Frank Carlucci (former CIA deputy director and Defense Secretary), James Rowley (former Secret Service director), Bobby Ray Inman (former acting chairman of President Bush's foreign intelligence advisory board and former CIA deputy director), and Joseph Carroll (former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency).¹

William J. Casey, former CIA director under Ronald Reagan, served as Wackenhut's outside legal counsel before his appointment.¹

Controversies and Allegations

Despite its public profile as a security firm, Wackenhut Corporation has been associated with several significant controversies and allegations, particularly concerning its political leanings and its alleged role in covert government operations.

Political Leanings and Dossier Collection

George R. Wackenhut, the company's founder, was characterized as a "hard-line right-winger" whose political values were reflected in the company's operations. Wackenhut actively built dossiers on suspected dissidents and sold this information to interested parties. By 1965, Wackenhut claimed to maintain files on 2.5 million suspected dissidents. This number grew to over 4 million by 1966, following the acquisition of the private files of Karl Barslaag, a former staff member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The company's monthly publication, the "Wackenhut Security Review," consistently criticized protest movements of the 1960s, earning accolades from right-wing organizations such as the John Birch Society and the All-American Conference to Combat Communism.¹

Allegations of CIA Front Operations

Multiple sources have alleged that Wackenhut served as a front for the CIA and other intelligence agencies. Richard Babayan, identified as a CIA contract employee, claimed that Wackenhut had been used by the CIA for years to provide cover for clandestine operations. Bruce Berckmans, a former CIA agent who later became a Wackenhut international-operations vice president, reportedly saw a formal proposal from George Wackenhut to the CIA offering Wackenhut offices worldwide as fronts for CIA activities. William Corbett, a terrorism expert and former CIA analyst, further stated that Wackenhut allowed the CIA to occupy positions within the company to conduct clandestine operations and supplied intelligence agencies with information in exchange for lucrative government contracts.¹

El Salvador Operations

Wackenhut was very active in El Salvador during the Contra war, providing employees to protect the U.S. embassy and other installations, and doing "things you wouldn't want your mother to know about," one Wackenhut employee told Spy magazine in 1992.³

The Cabazon Joint Venture

A particularly controversial aspect of Wackenhut's operations was its joint venture with the Cabazon Indian tribe in Indio, California. Formalized on April 1, 1981, this partnership aimed to leverage the sovereign nation status of the Indian reservation to bypass federal jurisdiction and congressional prohibitions on arms exports. The venture, known as "Cabazon Arms," sought to establish a production facility for high-tech armaments and explosives for export to third-world countries, including the Contras in Nicaragua and nations in the Middle East. The firm was using the Cabazon reservation's tax-exempt status and its freedom from federal oversight to gain a competitive advantage in soliciting federal weapons projects.¹³

Dr. John Nichols, the Cabazon tribal administrator and a former CIA agent who claimed experience going back to the Chilean destabilization program in the 1970s, secured a Department of Defense secret facility clearance for the reservation. He then proposed to Wackenhut the manufacture of various weapons systems, including 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, and portable rocket systems. The venture also explored the development of biological weapons. Michael Riconosciuto served as the Director of Research for this joint venture, and was involved in meetings with figures like Robert Frye (Wackenhut VP), John P. Nichols, and Peter Zokosky, and Dr. Harry Fair of the U.S. Army's Railgun Project at Picatinny Arsenal, where Riconosciuto's scientific expertise was noted.¹

PROMIS Software Modification

Within the Cabazon Joint Venture, Michael Riconosciuto claimed to have modified the proprietary PROMIS computer software. This modification, allegedly spearheaded by Earl Brian and made available through Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice, was intended to facilitate the worldwide implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed his work on the software, including specific modifications for the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. This alleged pirating and modification of the PROMIS software became a central component of the PROMIS Software Scandal.¹

It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on Israeli information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by Robert Gates, who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.²

Danny Casolaro Investigation

Investigative reporter Danny Casolaro was investigating the Wackenhut/Cabazon weapons projects as part of his "The Octopus" investigation when he was found dead in a West Virginia motel room in 1991. The probe into his death was ordered by associate attorney general Webb Hubbell, who had his own connections to weapons manufacturing for the Contras through Park On Meter in Arkansas.³

End of Wackenhut

The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984, following Robert Frye's heart attack. Its activities subsequently became the subject of numerous investigations by entities such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, U.S. Customs, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as various police agencies and media outlets worldwide.¹

Other Allegations

Beyond the Cabazon venture, Wackenhut was also implicated in other international controversies. A 1992 SPY magazine article by John Connolly alleged that Wackenhut secretly assisted Iraq in its efforts to obtain sophisticated weapons and contributed to unrest in Venezuela.¹