Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana was the base of CIA-DEA contract agent Barry Seal, whose farm served as a cocaine drop site connected to both the Medellín cartel and Contra supply operations.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana was the base of Central Intelligence Agency-DEA contract agent Barry Seal, whose farm served as a cocaine drop site connected to both the Medellín Cartel and Contra supply operations. Seal moved from Baton Rouge to Mena, Arkansas, in 1982, but his Louisiana connections remained central to the drug trafficking network.1
Seal's Operations
Seal was one of the biggest cocaine and marijuana importers in the southern United States, flying loads in directly for the Medellín cartel and air-dropping them with pinpoint precision across Louisiana, Arkansas, and other southern states. Seal detailed his cocaine-smuggling activities involving approximately 50 trips during 1981, 1982, and 1983. His farm in Baton Rouge was allegedly used as a drop site for cocaine and marijuana flown into the country aboard a DC-4 aircraft, according to a 1983 U.S. Customs report. That same plane subsequently turned up flying supplies for the Contras in 1985 through an air cargo company operated by FDN leader Adolfo Calero's brother, Mario Calero.2
National Security Protection
Despite evidence sufficient for indictment on money laundering charges, cases against Seal were dropped over the strong protests of state and federal law enforcement officials. The apparent reason was that prosecution might have revealed national security information. Seal was ultimately murdered in Baton Rouge by Colombian hit men in 1986.3
Sources
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters. ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7. ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 7. ↩
Local network
Baton Rouge, Louisiana's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.