195 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
195 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 23
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=======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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WHO THE HELL IS ELLIS MCKENZIE?
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By Gene "Chip" Tatum
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They traveled fast and furious on horseback through the high
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plains wilderness, trying to lose those who were tracking them.
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From the top of the bluff, hiding behind a group of boulders,
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they stared in amazement as the dust from the hooves of their
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pursuers' horses told the story. They were hot on Butch and
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Sundance's trail.
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"Who are those guys?!" one of them exclaimed, more than
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questioned.
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But it really didn't matter who these pursuers were. The
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undeniable fact was simple: they were. You may call them what
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you want. You may name them what you will. It doesn't really
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matter because it's only a name.
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As a spy, a covert operative, a talent, an asset or a deep cover
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operative, your name is your cover. This alias is the thin layer
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of Kevlar that protects you from the enemy. In my career I have
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used over twenty aliases in order to conceal my true identity.
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This applies, not only in the world of espionage, but also in the
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dark world of crime.
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One of the most renowned drug pilots of the 1980's was a man
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named Barry Seal. Even Barry used an alias when he dealt with
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his friends in South America. But, unfortunately for Seal, a/k/a
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Ellis McKenzie, the thin Kevlar cover of an alias was not enough
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to prevent his assassination in 1986. Barry Seal, a/k/a Ellis
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McKenzie, was shot to death outside of a federal half-way house
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in Baton Rouge. It was not until 1988 that I would hear his name
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again.
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The tasking came in to go to La Ceiba, Honduras, and debrief a
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drug informant. As I looked at the tasking, my heart jumped.
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The name of the informant I was to debrief was Ellis McKenzie.
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Could it be that Barry Seal was still alive?
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Looking at the remainder of the mission dossier, I realized that
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this man, Ellis McKenzie, was not Barry Seal. McKenzie was,
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however, a member of the Seal smuggling organization. Seal had
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commissioned McKenzie to assemble a small fleet of boats, capable
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of smuggling drugs to various destinations. It was this man that
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provided Barry Seal with an alias. The dossier explained
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McKenzie's relationship with U.S. Customs, among other
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governmental agencies. To avoid prosecution after Seal was
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compromised by the DEA, several members of the Seal organization
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aligned themselves with various law enforcement agencies.
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McKenzie was recruited into the informant side of the drug
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smuggling operation by Seal's ex-brother-in-law, William Bottoms.
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This Bottoms/McKenzie alliance provided a useful tool for
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continued drug smuggling. Bottoms and McKenzie assured their
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contacts in Colombia that shipments would remain safe, while
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assuring their various U.S. law enforcement contacts that they
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(Bottoms/McKenzie) had and would provide information that would
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devastate the drug smuggling trade. McKenzie and Bottoms
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continued smuggling cocaine and heroin into the United States
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under the protection of U.S. Customs agents. In return, the
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traffickers would sacrifice shipments and competing drug
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smugglers in order to appease their government contacts. It was
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with this data, fresh on hand, that I, as Gene Duncan, a US Army
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Intel Officer attached to the Defense Intelligence Agency, met
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with Ellis McKenzie to receive his information.
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McKenzie explained that the information he had concerned
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shipments from Colombia to Mexico. That is why he was referred
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to U.S. Intelligence instead of his normal contacts in U.S.
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Customs or the DEA. McKenzie got right to the point. He
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explained that members of the Honduran Air Force were "in bed"
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with cartel leaders. Drug shipments were being flown from
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Colombia, over-flying Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras,
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Guatemala, or El Salvador and into Mexico. He stated that
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Colonel Castro Cabus, the Commander of the Honduran Air Forces in
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La Ceiba, and Captain Santiago Perdomo, the Director of Civil
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Aeronautics in Tegucigalpa, were on the cartel's payroll.
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McKenzie claimed that Cabus and Perdomo controlled the air space
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over Honduras and allowed drug over-flights rather than putting
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fighters in the air when these over-flights were reported by
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radar operators.
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I thanked Mr. McKenzie for his information and departed. I
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immediately had reason to suspect the information provided by
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McKenzie. Honduras air space had been controlled by a series of
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radar sites and electronic monitoring facilities since 1983. On
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the Caribbean coast of Honduras is a site which was called "Red
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Hawk." This site sits on top of a 4,052 foot mountain. Two
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additional sites are strategically placed in La Mesa and an
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inland site, named "Carrot Top," on top of a 6,522 foot peak.
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Additional communications facilities are located on Tiger Island,
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on the Pacific side of Honduras, and Swan Island on the Caribbean
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side. Most of these sites are controlled and operated by U.S.
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military personnel. One site is controlled by the CIA. Although
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I did not know Captain Perdomo, I did know Colonel Cabus and did
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not doubt his integrity. There was definitely a need to
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investigate and try to determine what this drug smuggler, turned
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informant, was up to.
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I called Washington and advised them that I would need some time
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to look into this accusation. The Defense Intelligence Agency
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(DIA) authorized my time and the investigation began. It should
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be noted that in the early '80's the US government removed all
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DEA agents from Honduras. They were not placed back in Honduras
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until the end of the decade. Most intelligence gathered in the
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country was provided by drug traffickers turned confidential
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informants, who were first and foremost -- drug traffickers. Or,
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in the alternative, by CIA operatives who were in Honduras in
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support of the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Forces (Contras).
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I was only five days into the investigation when all the pieces
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of the puzzle were in place and I had a clear picture. Our (DIA)
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primary concern was the accusation that Colonel Castro Cabus, the
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air field commander in La Ceiba, was involved in any illegal
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activity. Our concern lay in the fact that Cabus would most
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likely become the next Commanding General of the Honduras Air
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Force.
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I quickly found that the cartels had no problem over-flying
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Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, but over-flights of Honduras
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provided a problem. The cartel's efforts to buy Colonel Cabus
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had failed. Bottoms and McKenzie saw an opening which, if
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successful, would provide an invaluable service to the cartels.
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They would, through their association with U.S. law enforcement
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agencies, concoct a story which discredited the good Colonel and
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Captain, in effect neutralize them, thinking that their
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replacements may be more amiable toward a relationship with the
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cartels, especially in light of the recent misfortune of their
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predecessors. McKenzie also implicated a number of Honduran
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businessmen involved in drug activities. Those names were:
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Arturo Alverado Wood, Abraham Dip, Alan Hyde, and Albert Jackson.
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But I will save the allegations against these men for another
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report.
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I reported my findings to Washington and returned to Canada where
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I had been working on another intelligence gathering mission.
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The information, in turn, was passed on to U.S Customs.
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END OF REPORT
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Gene Duncan, Major
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Defense Intelligence Agency
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AKA
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Chip Tatum
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cc: Honduras Air Force
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General Castro Cabus
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Department of Defense
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Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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Santiago Perdomo
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c/o Department of Defense
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Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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Abraham Dip, La Ceiba, Honduras
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Arturo Wood, Islena Airlines, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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Alan Hyde, c/o Hyde Shipping, Roatan, Honduras
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Albert Jackson, Fantasy Island, Roatan, Honduras
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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