12 Drug route from Panama to Pt. Escondido, Mex. Ochoa- Escobar operations, Army, Ft. Huachuca, Az., in place 3-2-83 On this date, March 2,1983, Tosh says he reported this popular drug-smuggling air route to the unit he answered to, based at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. His military operations logistics officer was Army Col. James Steele, who was chief of the U.S. advisers jn El Salvador. Plumlee had carried dope on that route from Santa Elena to Pt. Escondido and on up into the United States several times. He and his colleagues, working for military intelligence, using equipment supplied by the CIA, expected that these flyways would be shut down in one major sting operation. But it never happened. 1 3 & 1 4 CX over Bravo One CX over Brave Two These crossovers are two of the many checkpoints where two different flyways intersected, at which Plumlee was instructed to contact ground stations on his flights up the coast. The Black Crews usually had a coded checkin, such as six clicks on the microphone button or a short series of dots and dashes. “Going into Hull’s ranch, you always whistled,” recalls Plumlee. The check-ins were required because sometimes ground controllers sent back information that the mission was to be terminated for various reasons, and there were automatic, pre- set route changes and landing points for canceled operations. According to Plumlee, Bravo One was the name of a weapons route into Guatemala on which Big Toad, a C-130 cargo plane, made . regular air drops of heavy weapons. Bravo Two was the weapons route between various airfields in the Yucatan region of Mexico and the coast of Honduras. A lot of U.S. military hardware from El Salvador and Honduran military bases made its way to private contractors through Felix Rodriguez, accords - ing to Plumlee and several other sources. Plumlee says this hardware was shipped to the Yucatan as a way of “ laundering” it before it was then taken back south and sold to the Contras. 15 Noriega? Plumlee, an atrocious speller, wrote "Neirago?” on his map shortly after seeing a Panamanian dignitary at a landing strip near Rio Hato on the Pacific in 1983. “We had dropped off weapons there that were headed for El Salvador,” Plumlee remembers, “ and drugs were being loaded for the return trip. This guy was with some other people, and we called him the ‘Strongman.’ He was extremely friendly with all his people, all the way down to the corporals. I didn’t really know who he was, just the ‘Strongman,’ and somebody mentioned his name. I tried to write it just from the way it sounded.” Looking back on it all, Plumlee sometimes finds it hard to believe he witnessed first-hand such a sordid part of American history. He tells these stories with an air of resignation tinged with insecurity, for he fully expects the listener to disbelieve him. So many people in his circumstance have had their characters besmirched and their stories branded as lies by government agents. Unlike many pilots, he didn’t cut side deals with drug runners, so he didn’t make a lot of money. Why didn’t he? "Looking back on it, I sometimes wish I’d taken the money like a lot of these damn mercenaries.” He spits out the word mercenaries as if it were a lemon rind. "Sure I'm pissed off that I didn’t get in on any of it, but we were loyal to our crews. I wouldn't have sold them out. "The CIA, the FBI, the DEA, Congress, the White House—they all knew we were involved in running drugs to help the Contras, and they could have stopped it. Everything I did down there was sanctioned. “George Bush claims he didn’t know, but he would have had to go to great lengths to keep himself ignorant about it. But I'm just a little ol’ plumber, so what could I know about all this?” Writer Neal Matthews’ story appeared first in the April 5, 1990 San Diego Reader. It is reprinted with permission in a slightly abridged form. Matt Wuerker, a former Portland resident, lives in Los Angeles. His cartoon art appears in such diverse publications as Z Magazine, Utne Reader and the Los Angeles Times. His Macintoshgenerated cartoon feature “Col. Ollie” appeared in our Summer ’87 issue. THE SECRETO OF Pick ^Moment PickYour Opponent PracticalAbout it.. P ACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER^ msKixiiKviOT sw* omsi S EA T T LE — 4 4 3 - 2 8 5 0 POR TLAND — 2 4 2 - 0 7 2 3 THETORI YOU NEVERKNEW Tofu Burger Sauteed Tofu &Vegetables Tofu Quiche 12 Clinton St.—Spring 1990 Tofu Custard Tofu Lasagne Tofu Salad Tofu Dip Ko Ota Introduce yourself to the world’s most versatile food. Ota Tofu. Ask for it by name at fine groceries everywhere. The Ota Tofu Co. 812 S.E. Stark Port. Ore. 97214
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