The Chip Tatum Chronicles - Testimony of Government Drug Running (Part 2)
1996 D.G. 'Chip' Tatum

THE TATUM CHRONICLES

By D.G. "Chip" Tatum

PEGASUS an American Spy Story Book Two

The Tatum Chronicles Published by D.G. "Chip" Tatum P.O. Box 895082, Leesburg, Florida 34789 (352)787-0867

Copyright 1996 By D.G. "Chip" Tatum and Nancy J. Tatum

The Tatum Chronicles INTRODUCTION

We departed the following morning with the passengers listed in Item 19 Remarks section of the Department of Defense Flight Plan dated 16 March, 1985.

The following conversation took place between Messrs. Harari and Young during the flight to Palmerola Air Base. The passengers were wearing headsets and speaking over the aircraft intercom system due to the high noise level in the helicopter. As the command pilot, I routinely monitor all conversations on our intercom. I did not advise our passengers that I was listening, or that I was recording the conversation.

Buddy: "Arkansas has the capability to manufacture anything in the area of weapons - and if we don't have it - we'll get it!"

Mike: "How about government controls?"

Buddy: "The Governor's on top of it, and if the feds get nosey - we hear about it and make a call. Then they're called off." He was looking around the countryside and continued, "Why the hell would anyone want to fight for a shit-hole like this?"

Mike: Shaking his head in awe, answered, "What we do has nothing to do with preserving a country's integrity - it's just business, and third world countries see their destiny as defeating borders and expanding. The more of this mentality we can produce - the greater our wealth. We train and we arm - that's our job. And, in return, we get a product far more valuable than the money for a gun. We're paid with product. And we credit top dollar for product."

Buddy: Still looked confused.

Mike: "Look - one gun and 3,000 rounds of ammo is $1,200. A kilo of product is about $1,000. We credit the Contras $1,500 for every kilo. That's top dollar for a kilo of cocaine. It's equivalent to the American K-Mart special - buy four, get one free. On our side - we spend $1,200 for a kilo and sell it for $12,000 to $15,000. Now, that's a profit center. And the market is much greater for the product than for weapons. It's just good business sense - understand?

Buddy: "Damn! So you guys promote wars and revolutions to provide weapons for drugs - we provide the non-numbered parts to change out and we all win. Damn that's good!"

Mike: "It's good when it works - but someone is, how do you say, has his hand in the coffer."

Buddy: Responding on the defensive," Well, we get our ten percent right off the top and that's plenty. GOFUS can make it go a long way." Mike:"Who is GOFUS?"

Buddy: "Governor Clinton! That's our pet word for him. You know they call the President 'POTUS' for 'President of the United States'. Well, we call Clinton 'GOFUS' for 'Governor of the United States'. He thinks he is anyhow.

Mike: "That's your problem in America. You have no respect for your elected officials. They are more powerful than you think and have ears everywhere. You should heed my words and be loyal to your leaders. Especially when speaking to persons like me. Your remarks indicate a weakness - something our intelligence analysts look for."

Buddy: "Aw hell, Mike. Everybody knows the Clinton's want the White House and will do anything to get it. That's why I'm here instead of someone else. We know about the cocaine - hell! I've picked it up before with Lasater when he was worried about going on Little Rock Air Base to get it."

A new line of conversation ensued. Harari questioned Young about his knowledge of who the 'players' were. He went down a list. He started with 'The Boss - Clinton'. Here's a synopsis of the players according to Young.

Buddy: "Clinton - thinks he's in charge, but he'll only go as far as Casey allows. Me and my staff - we keep the lid on things you know - complaints about night flying - Arkansas people are private folks - they don't like a lot of commotion and Mena just isn't the right place for the operation. It keeps us busy at the shredder - if you know what I mean. Dan the Man (Lasater) - He does magic with the money - between him and Jack Stevens we don't have to worry a bit. Then we got Parks - if there's a problem - he's the man. We call him the Archer - that's the codename that Casey and Colby told us to assign to that position. Finnis oversee's our drop zone. Nash - he's just the boss' 'yes' man. Personally I think he's a mistake! Seal and his guys - I like his attitude "and leave the driving to us!" he said, quoting one of Seal's good ole boy sayings.

Mike: "You like Seal?"

Buddy: "Hell! He's the only one I trust - respect is the word."

Mike: "Do you see much of him?"

Buddy: "Hell, yea. We test drive Clinton's rides before we send 'em on, ya know? (He laughed, grinding his hips.) Say - how much coke do you recon you can make in a week?"

Mike: "One camp can produce 400 keys a week. The others are about half that. But that's just our operation here. We have other sources in various parts of the world. Why do you ask?"

Buddy: "What? Oh, the Governor wanted to know our capacity."

Mike: "Who else is on the team?"

Buddy: "Well, hell, I forgot who I told you about."

Mike ran down the list from memory.

Buddy: "Ok, there's the manufacturers - hell, these two.."

The tape stopped.

I didn't recognize the names. I ran out of paper on my kneeboard shortly after the tape stopped. Something like Johnson and Johnson. The flight continued and so did their discussions...about people mostly. We landed and I went to Operations and made a note on the back of the flight plan that I filed by phone.

 

18 March, 1985

I was called at 0500 hours and told that there were three wounded soldiers at a Contra camp outside of Choloteca. We launched and picked up two observers in Choloteca as ordered. Mr. North and a Lt. Col. Ramon Navarro. I had met Lt. Col. Navarro on previous flights into contra camps, however, his uniform was not that of the U.S. or Honduran Military. We then proceeded to the Contra camp where our medic administered to the casualties. We loaded two of the casualties and were waiting for Specialist McDonald, our medic, to finish with the last patient. The last patient had a piece of what seemed to be wood sticking out of a bad wound to the upper left portion of his body. When we attempted to clean the area, we found a hole the size of a softball adjacent to the impaled object. McDonald began cleaning the area, causing a clear view of muscle hanging and the inside of the chest cavity. Mr. North fainted. I caught him and popped an ammonia capsule to bring him around. We then departed and delivered the casualties to San Lorenzo.

I would see Ramon Navarro on several occasions. The last time I saw Ramon was February 27th, 1991.

In 1990 the United States arrested General Manuel Noriega. General Noriega had been indicted by a federal grand jury under the drug conspiracy laws. Two of General Noriega's co-defendants were severed from the General and scheduled for trial in early 1991.

One of the government's key witnesses against the two co-defendants was Ramon Navarro. Navarro knew, from past experience, how valuable his testimony would be. After being subpoenaed, Navarro contacted Felix Rodriguez, one of his handlers from the Contra cocaine manufacturing facilities. Navarro told Rodriguez that he wanted $1 million - cash or he would not only testify about Noriega's involvement with drug manufacturing and trafficking, but he would also implicate Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Oliver North, President George Bush and others.

Having been recruited into a covert operations intelligence unit in 1986, directed by William Colby and George Bush, I was tasked with the mission of delivering the money with its terms to Mr. Navarro. On February 26th, 1991, an Archer Team, consisting of three assassins and one tracker began surveillance of Mr. Navarro. A Saberliner was flown into Miami Airport with a satchel of money containing $1 million. My orders were to deliver the money to Mr. Navarro and advise him that he was to leave with me.

It had been arranged through Adolfo Colero, an ex-Contra leader now in the Chamarro government of Nicaragua for Mr. Navarro to relocate and live in Nicaragua. Mr. Bush felt that it would be too dangerous for Navarro to testify. I was ordered by Colby to give Navarro the money and take him to the Saberliner. I was further instructed that, if Navarro refused to relocate, he was to be terminated on the spot.

Two Archers were placed at Navarro's home the night of February 27th, 1991. I was stationed outside of Navarro's girlfriend's house with the Major (code name for an Archer team leader) and another Archer. Mr. Navarro exited his girlfriend's house at about 11:30 pm. I exited my vehicle and approached Ramon. When Navarro saw me approaching, he jumped in his car and sped off down the road. The red BMW was speeding through the streets of Miami at about 80 miles per hour with our two vehicles in pursuit. We notified the team at his home and they were prepared to apprehend him. Suddenly, Navarro lost control and crossed the median, crashing into a fence. Navarro was dead. We stopped and insured that he was dead, and then departed. I returned the satchel of money to the aircraft.

See flight plan and After Action Report on the following page.

I was asked to provide transportation for the following passengers back to Tegucigalpa.

General Gustavo Alverez -Honduras

Felix Rodriguez -CIA

Mike Harari - Panama (Retired Mossad - see letter from Israeli Embassy dated October 20th, 1993.)

Major Rodriguez advised me that I would need to modify aircraft #228 for a flight through Nicaragua to Costa Rica on the 24th. I 'roger-ed' and returned to Palmerola. Upon arriving I arranged for the modifications. The modification included four stinger missiles which were to be attached outside of the aircraft only if detection and acquisition were inevitable.

 

24 March, 1985

Purpose:

To deliver passengers to El Ocotal, Costa Rica and to gather vital Intel from moles at Ojo de Agua/El Tamborcita, Nicaragua. It was necessary for pax to meet with contacts at Ojo and brief prior to meeting in Costa Rica.

Intel:

It was determined by intelligence provided by Wally World, that both radar threat and airborne patrols of Soviet built Hind-D were in place. It was, therefore, determined that we would use a modified medevac UH-1. If detected in a low-level flight across Nicaragua, it was most likely that the Sandinistas would not shoot down a humanitarian aircraft. The modification to the UH-1 were gun mounts ready to be swung out of the aircraft with two stinger missiles mounted on each side. The mission was flown at a top altitude of twelve (12) feet above ground level (AGL).

Flown as Briefed.

Comments:

The first leg of the flight was eventful. Utilizing the terrain elevation of the Cordillera Range northeast of Managua as a shield against Nicaraguan radar, the mission was flown with minimal hits of the APR-39 (Radar Indicator). The following passengers and crew participated in the meeting at Ojo de Agua: Mr. Rodriguez, General Alverez, and Joe Fernandez. Mr. Harari showed minimal interest in the intel. Familiarization with the usage of the photo equipment followed the briefing. I refueled from a tactical ball dropped a day earlier. We carried two aux-fuel bladders in the hell holes of the chopper. The flight resumed to El Ocotal, Costa Rica with minimal hits on the APR-39. The meeting was held at a remote seaside retreat. A communications center was set up at the chopper utilizing a phone provided by Mr. Fernandez.

Attending the meeting were the following:

General Noriega - Panama

Mike Harari - Panama (retired Mossad)

Felix Rodriguez - U.S.

Joe Fernandez - U.S. (CIA)

General Gustavo Alverez - Honduras

William Barr - U.S.

Via Sat/Com link:

Oliver North - U.S. (National Security Council)

William Clinton - Governor of Arkansas

George Bush - U.S. Vice President

General Noriega and Mr. Barr greeted the aircraft when we arrived. The passengers adjourned to their meeting while I secured the aircraft. I was invited to join when I finished. Two Latin American soldiers set up the Sat/Com device and stood guard on the aircraft. I joined the meeting approximately thirty minutes later. When I arrived, the discussion was concerning the loss of over $100 million dollars worth of drugs and cash. The "Enterprise" was being drained. There were three Compaq Computers set up with operators, obviously working for Mr. Barr. There were approximately eight (8) administrative personnel correlating data provided by computer discs brought by the principles of the meeting. The discussions continued.

It was obvious that the purpose of the meeting was to identify the source of the loss. The money flow was traced from Panama to several destinations in the U.S. Their Ohio source was ruled out early. Their Colorado source was also ruled out. That left Arkansas. It was discussed by the members that either Seal or Clinton were siphoning from the "Enterprise". At this point, my food was brought, so I moved to a separate table and ate. By the time I finished, Mr. Fernandez signaled me to join him. We went back to the aircraft and used the phone.

He called Mr. North and told him that the loss was definitely occurring on the Arkansas drop. He said, "That means either Seal, Clinton or Noriega." (I thought it noteworthy that Mr. Fernandez added General Noriega to the suspect list.) He hung up. I started back, but Fernandez stopped me and told me to get Barr and Rodriguez. I summoned Barr and Rodriguez to the aircraft. About 15 minutes later, the phone activated and Barr answered.

He listened, not speaking but nodding his head in agreement. When he spoke, he told the caller that it had been determined that the problem existed on the Arkansas connection. "I would propose that no one source would be bold enough to siphon out that much money, but it is more plausible that each are siphoning a portion causing a drastic loss." He then acknowledged something with a "Yes, sir," and told the caller he would see him and give an up-dated report in two days. At that point the phone was handed to me. I answered, "Tatum."

Vice President Bush asked me to ensure that General Noriega and Mr. Harari boarded Seal's plane and departed prior to my departure. He also wanted the tail number of Seal's plane. I was told to tell no one that we spoke. He then instructed me to pass the tail number to North via land lines when I returned to base. I acknowledged and handed the phone back to Barr. Barr stated that he and Fernandez were staying in Costa Rica until the following day. They needed to visit the "ranch." He then terminated the call.

Mr. Barr then made another call. He asked for Governor Clinton. He must have had a direct number because he didn't have to wait. He began immediately. He explained that a substantial amount of "Enterprise" monies had disappeared. He further explained to Governor Clinton that it was suspected to be in excess of $100 million dollars and that it was definitely disappearing along the Panama to Arkansas connection. He suggested that Governor Clinton investigate on that end, and that he and Mr. North would continue investigating on the Panama side and that it must be resolved or it could lead to problems. "Big problems," he reiterated. He then asked Clinton to put his best man on it and stated that this was priority one. Then he terminated the call.

We broke down the equipment. I dropped Noriega and Harari at the airport and waited for Seal to leave in a Lear jet tail number N13SN. Then I returned the other passengers to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

This is the content of the meeting and the mission. The following is the mission flight plan and passenger list.

30 March, 1985

We arranged to remain over night (RON) in Tela, Honduras. We settled into the hotel and I excused myself for the night. I walked to the airfield (it was approximately 1 mile away) and flew the helicopter to La Cieba. I picked up the following passengers:

Name

Representing

Mr. North

CIA & Vice President Bush

Felix Rodriguez

CIA - acted as co-pilot

General Alverez

Honduras

Ami Nir

CIA (Mossad)

We flew into several villages on the Nicaragua/Honduras border to recon for a later mission. I recorded actual village locations for cargo drops by CH-47's scheduled later in April. Three of the villages were Rus Rus, Waspam and Santa Anna.

Mr. North was pleased with the operations. He stated that Vice President Bush appreciated the extra effort I was giving. General Alverez told Mr. North of my ability to sneak into his airfield under their radar. He asked North if I could instruct some of his security team and pilots for future use. North declined stating that I was a national secret, laughing. We landed at Santa Anna and met with Enrique Bermudez and other Contra leaders. We were then taken to a processing area of some sort. As we approached, there was a strong smell of jet fuel and acetone. There were several tactical bladders, used for carrying fuels, sitting around the area. Six large fuel pods were on the ground but had the tops torched off. Inside there was fuel and ground-up coca leaves.

Mr. North stated the following to the other passengers, "One more year of this and we'll all retire." He then made a remark concerning Barry Seal and Governor Clinton. "If we can keep those Arkansas hicks in line, that is," referring to the loss of monies as determined the week prior during their meeting in Costa Rica. I stood silently by the vat of leaves, listening to the conversation. General Alverez had gone with the Contra leader to discuss logistics. The other three - North, Rodriguez, and Ami Nir - continued through the wooden building, inspecting the cocaine. North continued, "...but he (Vice President Bush) is very concerned about those missing monies. I think he's going to have Jeb (Bush) arrange something out of Columbia," he told his comrades, not thinking twice of my presence. What Mr. North was referring to ended up being the assassination of Barry Seal by members of the Medellin Cartel in early 1986.

"How about 'Pineapple'?" Rodriguez asked. (Speaking of General Noriega.)

"Naw," North answered, "something's up there." Bush later insured Noriega was indicted and imprisoned for drug trafficking.

I recalled the mysterious army officers remarks in Ojo de Agua, "Tell no one. There's no one big enough in your chain of command." I just heard North tell Rodriguez that the Vice President, the Governor of Arkansas and the three of them are manufacturing cocaine. I flew them back to La Cieba and I continued back to Tela in time for drinks downtown with my crew and friends. We returned the following day to Palmerola. I went to Ops an put a few notes on the back of the flight plan.

6 April, 1985

Six coolers marked medical supplies were delivered to Dustoff Operations. We were tasked with dropping them off in Trijillo at the airstrip. We met a U.S. Air Force C-130 bound for Panama and passed the coolers of cocaine to them. I asked the pilot, "Who gets these?" He looked at his manifest and told me that a Dr. Harari would be called on arrival.

.

9 April, 1985

We flew into a small village forty kilometers east north east of Ocotal in Nicaragua. Rodriguez was there with the Contra leader Enrique Bermudez when we arrived. We walked through the camp which was still being cleared and organized. Four fuel pods with their tops cut off were sitting outside a large military tent. Several tactical fuel balls were located next to the pods. Rodriguez told the air crew that this was a Sandinistas base that was captured. I noted that all of the equipment, the GP large tent, the fuel pods, and the tactical fuel balls were U.S. made. And inside the tent were several women packaging the cocaine. When we left, we carried four 110 quart, white coolers marked medical supplies to San Lorenzo, dropped them off to a civilian C-123 and returned to base.

10 April, 1985

We were tasked with flying six coolers marked "medical supplies" to San Lorenzo, Honduras. While we were flying on 9 April, Dr. Gus (General Gustavo Alverez), delivered six coolers to Dustoff operations. I opened all six coolers to check their contents. I only counted the packages of cocaine in one of the coolers. There were 110 packages. Major Hethcox, the Aviation Support Commander, sent his Administrative Officer, Lt. Willett, to Dustoff Operations to fly one leg of our flight as my co-pilot.

I suspected Hethcox was curious why we were flying so much. We loaded the coolers marked "medical supplies" and headed for San Lorenzo (SLN). Upon arrival we hovered to a C-123 cargo aircraft that we had met the previous day. The C-123 was based out of El Salvador and was tasked with carrying the cargos from San Lorenzo back to El Salvador. I noticed something familiar as the C-123 pilot approached. It was Barry Seal, an old friend.

Barry was holding a jar of olives in his hand as he walked up to the chopper and greeted me. Barry had promised me weeks before in Panama, during a meeting with Harari, Noriega, and North, to see that I got some olives. I had visited the base liquor store (Class 6) at Howard Air Force Base, but it was out of olives, as was the commissary. I told him that I didn't expect "curb-service." He gave his cherub laugh and invited us to a café‚ for a coca-cola. The crew joined us as he commandeered an Air Force truck for the short drive from the airstrip to the village.

Barry and I walked outside of the cafe so that we could talk privately. I asked Barry to level with me concerning the drugs and who was involved. I felt that Barry Seal was the only person I had met to date that I could get a straight answer out of. The following is what Barry Seal told me concerning the drugs in general and, more specifically, the destination of the drugs which we delivered to San Lorenzo on 9 and 10 April, 1985.

"The Contras needed weapons for their rebellion against the Sandinistas. When the CIA approached the Contras in the early 80's they promised total support in weapons, training, and money required to sustain the operations. This is what prompted the Nicaraguans to begin open recruiting against the Ortega-led Sandinistas government. But, as time went on, the U.S. reneged on their promise to the rebels. Not only did the U.S. cut money needed for medical and food supplies for the Contra camps, but they also refused to provide the weaponry needed to stay alive. This left the Contras in a hell of a spot.

William Casey met with Adolfo Colero and it was decided that the Contras would get the much needed money and weapons in exchange for cocaine. Casey put Ollie North over the project. North, at the CIAs promptings, recruited Seal to oversee delivery of the products, and a man named Ramon Navarro (Medellin Cartel) to train the Contras in the manufacturing process. Colero was the "point man" for the Contras. He dealt with Washington and others as needed.

Contra leader Enrique Bermudez was tasked with getting the cocaine kitchens built and protected. Bermudez had solicited three other Contra commanders to assist in this project. Their names are Commander Fernando, Commander Franklin, and Commander Marlan. Ramon Navarro supplied the cocaine paste and raw coca leaves to the Contras. The U.S. provided the equipment. It was delivered to the camps by Chinook helicopters (CH-47) out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (159th Aviation Battalion). It was Barry's job to deliver the finished product and monies to destinations as dictated by Mr. North.

Barry gave me the names of his various drop points and told me to be very wary of North. "He'll give up his mamma if he has to!" was his comment concerning North's lack of honor. He also gave me the names of U.S. officials, politicians, and drug enforcement officials involved in the cocaine enterprise.

The End - Part Two