The Ballad of Barry Seal: A True Story of Drugs, Guns, and the CIA
Barry Seal was a pilot with a checkered past.
In the 1980s, he flew contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel.
Barry Seal was a man of many talents. He was a skilled pilot, a charismatic salesman, and a ruthless entrepreneur. He was also a convicted drug smuggler and a CIA informant. In the 1980s, Seal played a key role in the Iran-Contra affair, a scandal that rocked the Reagan administration.
Seal was born in Louisiana in 1944. He dropped out of high school and joined the Army, where he served as a paratrooper. After his discharge, Seal became a commercial pilot. In the early 1980s, he began smuggling marijuana into the United States from Colombia.
In 1984, Seal was recruited by the CIA to fly weapons to the Contras, a rebel group fighting against the socialist government of Nicaragua. Seal also flew drugs for the Medellin cartel, one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.
Seal's double life eventually caught up with him. In 1986, he was arrested in Nicaragua and charged with drug trafficking. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, Seal was released from prison after serving only two years. He was then recruited by the CIA to fly missions over Iraq.
In 1994, Seal was assassinated in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was 50 years old. His murder remains unsolved.
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