Barry Seal Collection

Collection

Identifier: MC 1525

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes extensive federal papers, court transcripts and other legal documents. Hahn used these materials to write his unpublished manuscript For a Little Excitement; Barry Seal, the CIA and Mena (2001), which is available in the Arkansas Collection; this manuscript was later published as Smuggler's End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal (2016). Documents include materials obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from FBI and CIA files.

Dates

1957-2016

Creator

Seal, Barry, 1939-1986 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Barry Seal, a flamboyant businessman and aircraft pilot from Baton Rouge, was involved in smuggling drugs from South America to the United States. According to legal testimony, Seal was connected with Colombias Medellin cocaine cartel as well as being an informant for several federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency. He was implicated in the Iran-gate/drugs-for-arms scandal which occurred during the Reagan Administration, testifying in several court proceedings and recounting his operations before the Presidents Commission on Organized Crime in October 1985. After a Byzantine court battle with federal prosecutors, Seal was sentenced to six months in a Salvation Army halfway house in Baton Rouge. He was shot to death in the houses parking lot in February 1986 in what U.S. officials have described as a professional assassination.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Additional Description

Acquisition Information

The Barry Seal Collection was donated by Delbert W. Hahn of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 25, 2003. Additional materials (those found in Box 3) were donated by Hahn in January and February 2019.

Processing Information

Processed by Jim Kelton, Fayetteville, Arkansas, August 2008. Updated by Katrina Windon to include additional donations (Box 3, Folders 1-20) in January 2019 and in February 2019 (Box 3, Folder 21).