The use of former military aircraft to fly cocaine into US
military bases avoided US Customs and arrest by DEA agents. It was the perfect scam. Aircraft loaded with cocaine flew over the
border with government transponder codes allowing them to avoid interference
from US Customs, landed at secured US military bases; the deadly cocaine was
transported off the bases, processed into crack cocaine, sold on the streets,
causing the deaths of thousands in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lockheed C-130A/Es
and P3As aircraft were swapped for outdated C-119s, transferred from the
Defense Department to the Department of Agriculture for use in firefighting and
found their way to CIA proprietary airlines.
These aircraft were used to ferry supplies and weapons to Central
America and cocaine into the US. This was a covert military operation used to
fund the right wing Nicaraguan Contras when Congress prohibited the use of
appropriated funds to support the Contra War and the Reagan Administration
turned to private parties, friendly countries and narcotics to fund an unpopular
war.
The Reagan Administration made no secret about
their support of the Contras and their opposition to the Sandinistas. This was not the
1930s, the US couldn’t invade Nicaragua and overthrow the
government but the administration seized on an opportunity to support covert
actions against Nicaragua. There was no
need to put US boots on the ground in Nicaragua when the
Contras could be supported
with weapons and supplies to do the job.
Formed in 1981 to resist the Sandinistas,
the Contras were composed of ex-guardsmen of the National Guard (Guardia
Nacional); Nicaraguans who
had supported the revolution but felt betrayed by the Sandinista government;
and Nicaraguans who opposed the Sandinistas' increasingly socialistic,
anti-democratic regime.
The Boland Amendments, named after U.S. Representative
Edward Boland who authored them from 1982 to 1984, outlawed military
assistance to the Contras for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government. The restriction prevented the use of
appropriated funds, but the administration, using the President’s National
Security Council (NSC) found a way around the law. They attempted to circumvent Congress by using the profits from
the sales of weapons to Iran (in exchange for the release of Americans held
captive in Lebanon), private donations from wealthy benefiters, ‘gifts’ from
foreign governments and the sale of illegal drugs by the Contras in the US. Supplies were air dropped to Contras in
Nicaragua. A connection to the
NSC and the White House was made when a Southern Air Transport C-123K aircraft
was shot down on a resupply mission in Nicaragua in October 1986.
On October
5, 1986, a Fairchild C-123K dropping supplies over Southern
Nicaragua is shot down by the Sandinistas. Eugene Hasenfus, a 45 year old cargo handler and former Marine, is the sole
survivor. Against orders, he was wearing a parachute when the aircraft
was hit. It saved his life. There were no other survivors. The ‘cat is literally out of the bag.’
The media is all over the story.
Hasenfus’ capture and photo is published in newspapers across the
US. President Reagan fires North from
the NSC in November 1986.
The Point
Man for Iran/Contra
Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was point man for
Iran-Contra, involved in negotiations with the Iranians, shipments of TOWs and
Hawk missiles to Iran used in the trade of arms-for-hostages and diversion
of funds from the sale of arms to the Contras, keeping the Contras
supplied with weapons in violation of the Boland Amendments. His testimony to Congress was riveting, drawing
millions of viewers away from the “Soaps” on TV. Some Marines were angry
because he wore his Marine Corps greens at the hearings when he was on
assignment from the Corps to the NSC and not taking orders from the
Corps. Even those who think he’s a liar had to be impressed with his
composure and responses to aggressive questioning. His boyish good looks
charmed millions of viewers. There’s no question that North was a
dedicated, talented, and successful salesman for the Reagan administration at
least until the Fairchild C-123K was shot out of the air over Nicaragua.
Before they could be impounded, North took his
notebooks (2,848 pages of daily notes from September 1984 through November
1986) from the While House after he was fired from the NSC staff by President
Reagan in November 1986.
North turned the notebooks over to his lawyer who asserted
his Fifth Amendment Rights when the notebooks were requested by the Senate’s
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations (the
Subcommittee). North or his attorney censored 1,269 pages of the
notebooks before turning them over to Kerry’s staff for review in December
1987, according to the Subcommittee. Congress granted North immunity but
he still objected to handing over the full notebooks. The Subcommittee
concluded that the deletions in the notebooks made it difficult to determine
the full extent of “narcotics trafficking.” [1]
Despite the deletions and refusals to hand over all of the
notebooks in the possession of North (now a former NSC employee whose
classification clearance had been terminated), the White House’s position was
that the notebooks were “federal property and subject to classification at the
highest level.” Some of the entries in North’s notebooks found by the
Subcommittee to be related to narcotics include:
ü May 12, 1984…contract indicates that Gustavo is involved
w/drugs (Q0266)
ü June 26, 1984, DEA—followed by two blocks of text deleted by
North (Q0349)
ü June 27, 1984, Drug Case—DEA program on controlling cocaine—Ether
cutoff—Columbians readjusting—possible negotiations to move refining effort to
Nicaragua—Pablo Escobar—Columbian drug czar—Informant (Pilot) is indicted
criminal—Carlos Ledher—Freddy Vaughn (Q0354)
ü July 9, 1984, Call from Claridge—Call Michael re Narco
Issue—RIG at 1000 Tomorrow—(Q0384)
ü DEA Miami—Pilot went talked to Vaughn—wanted A/C to go to
Bolivia to p/u paste—want A/C to p/u 1500 kilos—Bud to meet w/Group (Q0385)
ü July 12, 1984, Gen Gorman—Include Drug Case (Q0400)
ü Call from Johnstone—(While House deletion) leak on Drug
(Q0402)
ü July 17, 1984, Call to Frank M—Bud Mullins Re—leak on DEA
piece—Carlton Turner (Q0418)
ü Call from Johnstone—McManus, LA Times—says/NSC source
claims W.H. has pictures of Borge leading cocaine in Nic (Q0416)
ü July 20, 1984, Call from Clarridge—Alfredo Ceasar Re
Drugs-Borge/Owen leave Hull alone (Deletions)/Los Brasiles Air Field—Owen off
Hull (Q0426)
ü July 27, 1984, Clarridge—(Block of White House deleted text
follows)—Arturo Cruz, Jr.—Get Alfred Caesar on Drugs (Q0450)
ü July 31, 1984, --Finance: Libya—Cuba/Bloc
Countries—Drugs…Pablo Escobar/Fredric Vaughn (Q0460)
ü July 31, 1984, Staff queries re (White House deletions) role
in DEA operations in Nicaragua (Q0461)
ü December 21, 1984, Call from Clarridge: Ferch (White
House deletion)—Tambs—Costa Rica—Felix Rodriquez close to (White House
deletion)—not assoc. W/Villoldo—Bay of Pigs—No drugs (Q0922)
ü January 14. 1985, Bob Owens—John Hull—no drug
connection—Believes (Q0977)
In 1988, for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, North was charged with sixteen felonies, convicted on
three felonies (accepting an illegal gratuity; aiding and abetting in the
obstruction of a congressional inquiry; and ordering the destruction of
documents). He was sentenced to a three-year suspended prison term,
two years' probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service.
North's convictions were vacated, after the appeals court found that witnesses
in his trial might have been affected by his immunized Congressional testimony.
North didn’t have the authority to pull this off on his own.
He reported to National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and Annapolis
graduate, and then to his successor, Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter. On paper Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was
the deputy director of political-military affairs. The facts support that
North was the point man on Iran-Contra. He was literally all over the
map, negotiating with the Iranians for what amounted to arms for hostages deal
with the mark-up over costs going into secret bank accounts to purchase weapons
and supplies for the Contras in Central America.
Was Lt. Colonel North a scapegoat, taking
the hit for others higher in the government? Probably and it worked, too. George H.W. Bush had total control over the intelligence apparatus of the US government. Bush and North had to know about the operation to fly cocaine into US military bases; they just looked the other way. If North was a scapegoat, it
didn’t hurt him financially; he didn’t go to jail; he’s drawing his Marine
Corps retirement pay; making bucks from book sales and TV appearances and
life has been good to him. Not bad for someone who could have spent much
of his life in Federal prison. You can argue whether supporting the
Contras was good or bad for the US. However, no one would disagree
that the shipment of drugs into the US on the same aircraft that delivered
weapons to the Contras was anything but destructive. Like many others,
North just chose to look the other way. The objective was to get the hostages
out of the Middle East and bring down the Sandinista government. If the
Contras were dealing in illegal drugs, then that was somebody else’s
problem.
Those in the administration who knowingly turned the other
eye to the illegal drugs would have faced serious jail terms and not just
‘slaps on the wrists’ handed out by the judicial system. The revelation that US
military bases and personnel were used to support the Contras’ supplies of
weapons and drugs is not widely known and disputed by those who served in the
Reagan administration. Those involved in these activities include the
CIA, the NSC, the Pentagon, and CIA proprietary airlines and their crews.
The sale of arms to Iran and the transfer of weapons to the
Contras were activities not approved by Congress and in violation of
Federal laws. Besides Lieutenant Colonel North, a few of the key players
of Iran-Contra Affair include William Casey, Admiral John Poindexter,
Robert McFarlane, Elliott Abrams, Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, Clair George,
and Caspar Weinberger. However, if this were a play, top billing would go to
North, who with his Marine Corps dress greens and boyish charms, claimed
the attention of millions of Americans in 1987 during the
Iran-Contra hearings. The flights of unmarked C-130s into El Toro did not
go unobserved.
There’s
no way that civilians would have access to the El Toro without the knowledge
and consent of Marine Corps leadership. The unmarked C-130s unloaded their drug
cargo in the early morning hours when everyone except for duty watches was
asleep. The long-haired civilians who off-loaded the drugs had to be CIA contract employees or
Contras. But, you couldn’t
just drive onto the base. El Toro’s
Marine sentries would challenge any vehicle without a decal or pass. Occupants were subject to identity
checks. Marines with short hair might
get by without showing their military IDs, if their vehicle had a military
decal, but long hair civilians in a vehicle without a decal or approved pass
would be stopped by the MPs. And, the
aircraft loaded with weapons and illegal drugs couldn’t enter and leave the US
without clearance from US Customs and, at the very least, the tacit approval of
the DEA and CIA.
Robert Tosh Plumlee, CIA Pilot
The story of the use of former military aircraft to ferrying
weapons and narcotics was told to us by William Robert Plumlee who blew the
whistle to Congress on the illegal operations and others.
Plumlee was a long time contract CIA pilot; put his life
on the line to tell government officials about illegal narcotrafficking of flights into MCAS
El Toro and other military
bases. Some listened; others
didn’t. Plumlee’s Colorado home was
burned to the ground, he was shot at while driving his pick-up truck and
beaten-up with a warning to shut-up or else.
Plumlee wasn’t deterred.[3]
Plumlee was born in Panama City, Florida, on November 25,
1937. He enlisted in the Army in 1954
and was assigned to military specialized operations at Fort Bliss, Texas in
April 1954. He used the Korean War GI
bill to learn to fly. The CIA recruited Plumlee to fly for them; the government
made good use of his exceptional flying skills.
Plumlee was the co-pilot in a covert flight from Panama in March 1983 where a
DC-3 was shot up with .50 caliber machine guns but managed to make the 3 hours
flight and still land in one piece at a secret airstrip at Santa Elena,
Costa Rica.
 |
| Robert Tosh Plumlee in the 1980s |
Plumlee was interviewed by San Diego journalist Neal Matthews
for his story of the hair raising flight, “I Ran Drugs for Uncle Sam.” The story was published in The San Diego Reader on
April 5, 1990 and reprinted in the Phoenix Journal Express in May 1991.
Matthews’ story includes a map with notations by Plumlee of
landing fields at the Delgado Ranch, a few miles south of San Felipe, Mexico; an airstrip on the Pacific coast, just outside of Cabe San
Lucas; and drop points in the Anza-Borrego, Twenty-nine Palms, and the old Patton bombing range east of the Salton Sea. It would be hard to
make this stuff up. Plumlee is the real
thing; he’s the proverbial cat with nine lives.
[1] North turned the
notebooks over to his lawyer who asserted his Fifth Amendment Rights when the
notebooks were requested by the Senate’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics
and International Operations (the Subcommittee): Drugs, Law
Enforcement and Foreign Policy Report, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics
and international Operations, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States
Senate, December 1988, pg. 145.
[2] Entries in North’s
notebooks found to be related to narcotics: Drugs, Law Enforcement
and Foreign Policy Report, op. cit, pg 146-147.
[3] Plumlee put his
life on the line to tell government officials about illegal narcotrafficking supported by flights. As one of the
civilian pilots who ran weapons for the US government in the 1980s, Tosh
Plumlee said that he made numerous operationally approved trips to Latin
America; trips that he described as "sanctioned drug interdiction
operations." See Neal Matthews, “I Flew Drugs for
Uncle Sam,” San Diego’s Weekly Reader, April 5, 1990.
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