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10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Richard Wilker.md

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+---
+category: "Intelligence & Government"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - Person/Intelligence
+  - United_States
+  - El_Salvador
+  - 1980s
+  - Contra_War
+  - Dark_Alliance_Investigation
+summary: Former CIA agent who served as technical director for Pyramid International Security Consultants' weapons operations in El Salvador.
+---
+Richard E. Wilker was a former Laguna Beach resident described by arms manufacturer [[Tim LaFrance]] as an ex-CIA agent who served as the "technical director" on [[Pyramid International Security Consultants]]' security proposal to the Salvadoran government.[^1] Wilker was a key link between [[Ronald Lister]]'s weapons operations and the CIA.
+
+### Role with Pyramid International
+
+Wilker appears as the technical director on Pyramid's proposal for a security project to the Salvadoran defense ministry. The biography section of the proposal boasts that the company had "technicians with the Central Intelligence Agency in physical security for 20 years."[^1]
+
+LaFrance described how he met Lister through Wilker: "Wilker had heard about my stuff from the Agency. He said he had a friend who wanted to talk about a deal. I called to check and Langley said he [Wilker] was still working for the Agency. So I started doing business with Lister and Wilker." LaFrance said Lister was not officially a CIA employee; "He wasn't getting a paycheck from them. He may have said he did but his connection was... with Wilker. Very few people ever work directly for the Agency."[^1]
+
+### Intelligence Connections
+
+Former CIA officer [[John Vandewerker]], who once employed Wilker as a salesman, said he knew Lister and Wilker were involved in some business activity in [[El Salvador]]. "It was kind of touchy... as far as getting out of the country and all that kind of stuff." Vandewerker's name was found in the notebooks of investigative reporter [[Danny Casolaro]] after his death, in connection with the goings-on at the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]].[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"