Barry Seal, the most interesting man in the world.
Seal’s friends and enemies say he could fly anything with wings. They say he was a gregarious, confident hustler who could sell you an empty sardine can for a dollar.
— Michael Haddigan, The Arkansas Gazette
Talk about livin’ la vida loca.
Barry Seal was an outsized character in every respect — from his personality to his girth. In the weird and wild days of the late 1970s up to the mid-1980s, he was working for the Medellin Cartel as an ace dope smuggler, for the DEA as an informant and… maybe… for the CIA …
In 1986 he was assassinated by a Colombian sicario with a .45 caliber Mac-10 while he was living in a halfway house serving a rather light sentence for marijuana smuggling. The Ochoa Brothers, who operated the Medellin Cartel with Pablo Escobar had it in for the colorful pilot because they found out he was a snitch. It was almost certainly the Ochoas who called the hit, though conspiracy theorists have floated the notion that he knew to much about too many very powerful people — such as George H.W. Bush, who was running the Contra op out of the Reagan White House — and was therefore whacked.
Occam’s Razor says it was the Colombians, but… well, quien sabe?
Folklore, legend, conspiracy theory and disinformation and old-fashioned bullshit tends to accrete around larger-than-life characters like Barry Seal, and it’s probably impossible to know for sure what all he did and didn’t do on whose behalf. What is certain is that he was up to his ginormous fat ass in nefarious and lucrative activities on the wild frontier where el mundo narco and the national security state intersect. And he went down in a hail of bullets, as befits a crazy legend.
His story — a version of it, at least, is coming to the big screen in September. American Made. Yee-haw!
wayne says
Great story! Starting with a quote from my long time canoeing friend Michael Haddigan and including one of my favorite Stephen Stills songs.
JimC says
Connections. Love it. Glad it resonated.
deuce says
I barely knew about this guy. I certainly wouldn’t rule out Poppy Bush having a hand in that “hail of bullets”. This could be a good movie. If it can reach the level of, say, BLOW, I’d be happy.
JimC says
Right there with ya…
Greg Marshall says
I’ll have to overcome my loathing of Tom Cruise, but the effort will probably be worthwhile.
Thanks for the info.
JimC says
I feel similarly. My wife made me go see Valkyrie and I was glad I did. I’ll do the same with this.
john roberts says
Cruise does seem like odd casting but he usually does. John Goodman 30 years ago would have been perfect.
JimC says
Oh, yes…
deuce says
Val Kilmer is pretty hefty these days. Have you ever seen him in KILL THE IRISHMAN? Val certainly has the chops for it. In fact, I think he’s got more sheer talent than Cruise on top of just being a better man in real life. Oh well.
JimC says
That would probably have worked.
Greg Marshall says
Is Cruise still buying the movie rights for his own productions? I had heard that was the way he got into the Reacher franchise. Or is that just rumour?
JimC says
Wouldn’t surprise me. It’s a smart play and the guy’s got money to burn. I don’t think he compulsively purchases useless islands like Johnny Depp.
Matthew says
In the weird and wild days of the late 1970s up to the mid-1980s—
I think the terms “weird” and “wild” could describe most times and places during human history.
JimC says
I suppose that’s true. i probably use the terms too often.
It’s cuz I like a lot of alliteration. Hah!
Matthew says
It’s cuz I like a lot of alliteration. Hah!—
You and Marvel Comics Stan Lee (Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner et cetera)
I think the weirdness, the wildness, and the woolyness (how that for alliteration) of any time period is simply a product of human nature meeting unusual circumstances.
JimC says
And don’t forget James Ellroy.
I absolutely accept the achingly accurate accusation.
anonymous says
Daniel Hopsicker barry and seal book.
does he talk about Terry Reed.
who said he train pilots in mena arkansas.
Later Reed moved to Mexico setup company.
Terry Reed knew Oliver North / Feliz Rodruez.
meeting at camp robinson with other people too.
Terry Reed said while was Little Rock social circles.
Wasnt he involved in contra affair with OLLIE and Felix ?