For a while, Pablo hid out in the jungle, until the Ochoa brothers, Lehder and Gacha fled to Panama to live in a large house by a golf club under the protection of Manuel Noriega, a military dictator and CIA informant whose hospitality had cost them millions. With a down payment of $2 million, Pablo had authorised the deal a few months before Noriega had come to power.
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Known as Pineapple Face due to his pock-marks, Noriega had ended up ruling Panama by having a bomb - provided by the CLA planted in the plane of his predecessor, whose leftist stance - he had believed in democracy and the rights of poor people - whiffed of Communism. A master of playing every side, Noriega had profitable relationships with the CIA and the Colombian traffickers, who were working together in the fight against Communism by supporting the Nicaraguan rebels. In an expectation of CIA protection, the cartel had contributed to the Nicaraguan cause. For America, Noriega provided security for the Panama Canal, with its American bases housing over 10,000 military personnel. His contributions to America's anti-Communism crusade included money laundering and hosting guns-for-drugs flights for the Nicaraguan rebels.
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In 1982, Pablo had set up a deal with Noriega, whereby Panama was used as a transshipment point for cocaine heading to America, with Noriega collecting six-figure fees per load. Noriega also collected fees on the billions that the drug cartels - and intelligence agencies such as the CIA - laundered through Panama. It is alleged that Jeb Bush tapped into some of this hot money by establishing banking relationships between the ClA and the Medellin and Cali Cartels. Working in Venezuela for his CIA director father, Jeb supposedly disguised the drug money as oil industry revenues from front companies such as Texas Commerce Bank, a cartel favourite.
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Protected by bodyguards assigned by Noriega, the cartel leaders entertained themselves by playing soccer on the golf course, working out at the gym and swimming. Eventually, they rented their own homes. It was around this time in Panama that Pablo and Jorge Ochoa had discussions with Barry Seal, who'd flown cocaine worth billions into America. Even though they'd never met face-to face, Barry was considered highly reliable. From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Barry was an over-weight ace pilot with flamboyant mutton-chop sideburns, who was addicted to living on the edge. The Colombians called him the Fat Man.
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Pablo recruited Barry to fly 600 kilos to America, but the drugs were seized by the DEA in Florida. Unbeknown to Pablo, Barry was a CIA pilot and DEA informant, operating under a fake name: Ellis MacKenzie. Barry had been sent on a mission by George HW Bush, who wanted to trick Pablo into doing a cocaine deal with the Communist Nicaraguan government, which Bush hoped to use as an excuse to continue to arm the Nicaraguan rebels and stir up a war from which his associates were profiting.
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Even though the Medellín Cartel had contributed to the Nicaraguan rebels, its members had become far more useful to Bush as enemies to justify his War on Drugs, which was about military expenditure, advancing corporate interests overseas and providing cover for CIA drug trafficking, which was Barry Seal's main occupation (as detailed in my book, American Made: Who Killed Barry Seal? Pablo Escobar or George HW Bush). Barry was portrayed in Narcos as a former CIA pilot turned drug smuggler, which is false. The DEA, on the other hand, had a different objective for the cartel leaders: they wanted Barry to entice them onto US soil, so that they could be arrested and incarcerated for life.
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To Panama, Barry brought Pablo large amounts of cash, daily reports from one of Pablo's business administrators in Florida and items from a list of goods Pablo wanted purchased in America. Pablo asked Barry to fly 1,500 kilos of cocaine, but Barry said that he needed to inspect the airstrip in Nicaragua first.
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Pablo told Barry that the cartel hadn't ordered the assassination of the justice minister, Lara Bonilla. He claimed that it was a CIA plot designed to make the Colombian government want to extradite traffickers. He said that their cocaine labs had been dismantled and cocaine supplies moved to the mountains. He urged Barry to transport the 1,500 kilos as soon as possible. They would instruct him from their new headquarters in Panama.
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On May 20, 1984, Barry met the cartel again in Panama, in the basement of a white stucco house. Barry later told his DEA handlers - whom he was trying to impress - that the cartel introduced him to Federico Vaughan, a Nicaraguan government official. With slicked-back grey hair, Vaughan was sharply dressed in a silver business suit, tie, an expensive watch, sunglasses and cufflinks. Vaughan would accompany Barry to the Nicaraguan airfield, so he could inspect it. To avoid any harm in Nicaragua, Barry was to follow Vaughan's instructions. Vaughan introduced himself to Barry as the interior minister of the Nicaraguan Sandinista government, which was ready to process cocaine paste for the Medellín Cartel with ether from Germany.
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Barry, his Honduran cO-pilot and Vaughan took a commercial plane to Managua, Nicaragua, sitting separately, so as not to be associated with each other. At the airport, Vaughan got them through immigration with-out having their passports stamped. Vaughan's wife transported them to their house, where they stayed overnight.
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Driving to the airfield the next day, Vaughan told them not to be worried about the guards and checkpoints, which were a mere formality. Five miles outside of Managua in a rural setting, they stopped at a large oil refinery.
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"This is the country's only refinery. Never fly near or over it." Vaughan pointed at antiaircraft batteries on the perimeter. "Any air-craft that flies over the refinery, friend or foe, will be shot down immediately." He took them to a massive sunken lake, a volcanic crater full of clear blue water. "This is the purest water in the country. The only unpolluted drinking water for Managua. In its own way, it's as vital as the oil refinery. If you fly near it, you will be shot down."
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They travelled around a mountain, across a railroad track and onto a military airfield called Los Brasiles, with a lone paved runway. At roadblocks and checkpoints, Vaughan was waved through by guards wielding AK-47s. He took them to a hangar designated for their mission. Inside was a Piper Cheyenne owned by Pablo.
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Barry asked about the length of the airstrip and its foundation and texture. Vaughan escorted them along the 3,500-foot runway.
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When Barry and his co-pilot walked onto the grass to examine a drainage ditch, Vaughan yelled, "Stop! It's mined with land-mines. If you have any problem landing your aircraft, don't veer to the western side, or you'll be killed."
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Afterwards, they ate at a steakhouse. Vaughan produced a map of Nicaragua and drew arrows to indicate the smuggling mission's entry and exit routes. "You need a code for entering Nicaraguan airspace. You are to call the Sandino tower on a certain VHF frequency and identify yourselves as Yankee November Whisky X-ray Yankee. Then the tower will reroute you to Los Brasiles. All approaches to the city of Managua are covered by anti-aircraft guns to protect against night attacks by the Contra rebels."
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