Cabazon Indian Reservation

The Cabazon Indian Reservation is located near Indio, California, and is home to the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Its sovereign nation status played a crucial role in a joint venture with Wackenhut Corporation, allowing the parties to operate outside typical federal jurisdiction and congressional prohibitions. During the 1980s, the reservation was used as a site for developing weapons for Third World armies, including the Contras.¹²

Joint Venture with Wackenhut Corporation

On April 1, 1981, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians formalized a joint venture with Wackenhut Corporation, primarily to establish a production facility named "Cabazon Arms" on the reservation. This partnership was designed to manufacture high-tech arms and explosives for export to third-world countries, including the Contras in Nicaragua and nations in the Middle East, effectively circumventing U.S. arms export regulations. The San Francisco Chronicle described the venture as "a series of international military and security projects that seem to be lifted from the pages of a spy novel."¹²

Dr. John Nichols, the Cabazon tribal administrator and a former CIA agent who claimed involvement in the agency's Chilean destabilization program in the 1970s, was instrumental in this venture. He obtained a Department of Defense secret facility clearance for the reservation to conduct various research projects. Nichols proposed to Wackenhut the production of a range of weapons systems, including 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rocket systems, night-vision scopes, and battlefield communications systems. The joint venture also explored the development of biological weapons.¹²

In May 1983, the Cabazons solicited San Diego arms manufacturer Tim LaFrance to build an arms factory on their reservation. Their letter to LaFrance Specialties stated: "We need the know-how from an organization engaged in the manufacturing of armaments of various types, all consisting of technology not currently found on the marketplace."² The reservation casino's first manager was Rocco Zangari, a former bookie later indicted on racketeering charges.¹

Contra Connection

Contra leader Eden Pastora visited a firing range near the reservation for a weapons demonstration in 1981, a claim Pastora has both confirmed and denied on separate occasions. Wackenhut 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.²

PROMIS Software Modification

Michael Riconosciuto served as the Director of Research for this joint venture. He claimed to have modified the proprietary PROMIS computer software at the Wackenhut facility on the reservation. This modified software, allegedly made available by Earl Brian through Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice, was intended for worldwide implementation in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, leading to the PROMIS Software Scandal. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed specific modifications for the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada.¹

Frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture included Peter Videnieks and Earl Brian. The venture maintained close liaison with elements of the United States, including representatives of intelligence, military, and law enforcement agencies.¹

Danny Casolaro Investigation

Investigative journalist Danny Casolaro was investigating the Cabazon/Wackenhut projects as part of his "The Octopus" investigation at the time he was found dead in a West Virginia motel room in 1991. He had told friends he was convinced that "spies, arms merchants and others were using the reservation as a low-profile site on which to develop weapons for Third World armies, including the Nicaraguan Contras." His notes contained cryptic references to slow-acting brain viruses, like Mad Cow Disease, which he believed could be used against targeted individuals, and he was concerned he might have been a target of such a virus. The notebooks Casolaro left behind contained the name of former CIA officer John Vandewerker.¹²

Termination and Investigations

The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984. Following its termination, the activities conducted on the Cabazon Indian Reservation became the subject of numerous investigations by various governmental and law enforcement bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, U.S. Customs, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as police agencies and media worldwide.¹