Information names Rich Mountain Aviation
Staff Report
After a barrage of requests from media outlets, the FBI released more than 1,000 pages of its file on Adler Berriman “Barry” Seal on July 15th.
A joint investigation by the FBI, Arkansas State Police and IRS revealed that Barry Seal used the Mena airport for “smuggling activity” from late 1980 until March, 1984, according to the documents released last week.
A pilot, Seal moved much of his smuggling operation from Baton Rouge to Rich Mountain Aviation at Mena Intermountain Airport, according to the May 1986 FBI memo. Seal is purported to have flown guns to South America from Mena and drugs back into the United States, according to the memo.
In February 1986, Seal was killed in a hail of machine-gun fire outside a Baton Rouge Salvation Army halfway house.
Seal’s mysterious activities have spawned books and the popular 2017 movie “American Made”, starring Tom Cruise.
A 1983 entry in the recently released documents referred to a telephone conversation between the FBI and Polk County Sheriff A.L. Hadaway. According to the document, Hadaway said an informant told him a “narcotic smuggling operation” was headquartered out of the Mena airport and that a man named Barry from Baton Rouge was in charge of it.
If you are interested in reading the FBI documents released on July 15, you can go online to: vault.fbi.gov/recently-added. Part one consists of 472 pages, while part two contains 552 pages. Only about 25 pages of the documents refer to Arkansas or Mena. Many names in the documents have been redacted.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
Terry Reed = trustworthy.
If the FBI did not report any connection to a lumbe rcompany with offices in Orlando, Perry and Tallahassee Florida, then they are lying through their teeth. Barry most likely got his low level multi engine flight training from CIA pilots working out of Mac Don Lumber. One particular pilot who used the nick name of Sandy, was an ex-WASP pilot during WWII. Her training included towing ariel targets and specialized in ferring B-26 Martin Marauder’s as like the ones used in the Bay of Pigs. She was also trained in ariel low level reconnaissance. Barry was then, 1956/57, working and training with the CIA because Mac Don Lumber was a covert CIA Field office and cover NOC front business and safe house located kitty corner from the Orlando Train Station & Depot. Track one and two? Mac Don Lumber also had connectiontions with Clay L. Shaw and most likely George H.W . Bush along with a long line of politicians including Fl. Senator George A Smathers. Mac Don Lumber was also the namesake for E. Howard Hunt’s CIA code name of Edward Joseph Hamilton which Hunt used in both, the Bay of Pigs and Watergate. Those arrests to Barry Seal were recruiting tactics used by the CIA to narrow paths for a highly talented pilot as Seal so the CIA could totally control him then kite him when needed. You really have to talk to the FBI because they are not telling the truth about Seal. I bet they never talked about the movie he was in or was mimicked in either way before the idiot from the Scientology. You do know that Howard Hughes once owned TWA. Hughes uncle Rupert was Howard’s “IN’ into intelligence in Hollywood and help start the California National Guard along with being a writer, director in Hollywood and in intelligence before WWI, and if you don’t know that then you don’t know squat. Ta-Ta!