Barry Seal: How Did a Successful Well- Respected Pilot reach Drug Lord Pablo Escobar's Most Wanted List?
Drug trafficking has become a growing problem throughout the world and has impacted many people. Cartels in Central and South America have expanded this epidemic. (Lampe) There have been many drug smugglers in American history however, one in particular stands out, Barry Seal. Barry Seal is surprisingly unknown to much of the nation. In a survey at Coleman High School, six out of 30 of my peers knew the name while only three of them knew exactly who he was. Barry Seal was an American-made, Columbian-driven drug smuggler who, despite being assassinated, changed the relationship between America and South American drug cartels forever Barry
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“During a time when pilots at loose ends were a rarity, a friend of Seal's by the name of Joe Mazzuka (who, in turn, was acquainted with mob-tied Murray Kessler) recruited the injured Seal to fly explosives to Cuba.” (Kaplan) Seal believed his actions were justified because he was delivering them in a plot to overthrow Fidel Castro. He ended up getting busted and arrested but key prosecution witnesses were unavailable and the judge declared the case a mistrial. Seal ended up losing his job at TWA and turned to smuggling weed, pills, and finally cocaine in Mexico. ( see Kaplan, …show more content…
By being a key witness in a special operation that America needed to accomplish to attain a purpose to get involved in Colombia, he helped America cut down many drug cartels.
Although Barry Seal loved being robust about his money and was one of the world’s most influential drug smugglers and kingpins, he was really just a nerd that loved planes and adventure. He never partook in drugs or alcohol but was simply happy enough with a new plane to toy with: “Barry Seal was a nerd. He loved planes - and as long as he had one to play with, he was happy…" (Wright)
Barry Seal was one of a kind. Through his relations in the Iran Contra Affair by being a key witness, he slowed down the drug and weapon trade in South America to this day and participated in getting America as a whole involved more seriously. Contrary to what people might believe Barry Seal’s personality was, he was the complete opposite in being a nerd who just loved adventure and