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15
60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Great St. James.md
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@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
summary: "Great St. James is the island beside Little St. James that Jeffrey Epstein bought in January 2016 through Great St. Jim LLC, developed without permits, and whose estate sold it to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
location: "U.S. Virgin Islands (off St. Thomas)"
created: 2026-06-20
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-08
relations:
- type: owned
with: "[[Great St. Jim, LLC]]"
@ -48,9 +48,11 @@ On December 21, 2018 the territory's Coastal Zone Management program issued a st
Great St. James was sold together with Little St. James in May 2023 to an entity controlled by the investor Stephen Deckoff, founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, for 60 million dollars. The two islands had been listed in March 2022 at a combined asking price of 125 million dollars, and the sale closed at well below half of that figure.[^8]
Forbes put Great St. James at more than 160 acres and Little St. James at more than 70 acres.[^9]
Deckoff announced plans to develop a luxury resort of about 25 rooms on one of the islands, with reporting citing a planned opening in 2025. The sale resolved part of the estate's obligation under the 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands settlement, which had also directed half of the Little St. James sale proceeds to the territorial government and required environmental remediation on Great St. James.[^7][^8]
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. Poplar, Inc. was listed as the signatory for Great St. Jim's 2017 annual report, with a signature that appears to be Epstein's; at his death the estate valued Great St. James and Little St. James together at 86 million dollars, against the 60 million dollar sale price. As of February 2026 no resort had been built, and the only construction permit Deckoff had requested for either island was for a warehouse on Little St. James.[^1][^9] The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. Poplar, Inc. was listed as the signatory for Great St. Jim's 2017 annual report, with a signature that appears to be Epstein's; at his death the estate valued Great St. James and Little St. James together at 86 million dollars, against the 60 million dollar sale price. As of February 2026 no resort had been built, and the only construction permit Deckoff had requested for either island was for a warehouse on Little St. James.[^1][^10] The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
### Purpose and Inspections
@ -58,9 +60,9 @@ The territory's 2020 complaint against the estate alleged that Epstein bought Gr
### The 2019 Stop-Work Dispute and the Governor
In May 2019 [[Jean-Pierre Oriol]], Governor [[Albert Bryan|Albert Bryan's]] nominee for commissioner of the [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources|Department of Planning and Natural Resources]], told the Virgin Islands Daily News that Epstein was continuing illegal construction on Great St. James despite the stop-work order. Epstein complained to Bryan in text messages later released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]: "Jp going after me in the press!! Army corps told us ok. This is very wrong!" and "Accusing me of illegality!!!" Bryan replied, "We got u." Bryan did not answer the Daily News's questions about why he told Oriol to recuse himself. At a March 2026 briefing he said he had not helped Epstein secure permits, and that "even if I had told DPNR to grant his permit, it's perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands."[^10]
In May 2019 [[Jean-Pierre Oriol]], Governor [[Albert Bryan|Albert Bryan's]] nominee for commissioner of the [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources|Department of Planning and Natural Resources]], told the Virgin Islands Daily News that Epstein was continuing illegal construction on Great St. James despite the stop-work order. Epstein complained to Bryan in text messages later released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]: "Jp going after me in the press!! Army corps told us ok. This is very wrong!" and "Accusing me of illegality!!!" Bryan replied, "We got u." Bryan did not answer the Daily News's questions about why he told Oriol to recuse himself. At a March 2026 briefing he said he had not helped Epstein secure permits, and that "even if I had told DPNR to grant his permit, it's perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands."[^11]
The stop-work order had been issued on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp|Kenneth Mapp's]] administration; Bryan was inaugurated on January 7, 2019, and Epstein contacted him days later, corresponding with him in the months before his arrest. Epstein was arrested in [[New Jersey]] on July 6, 2019, two months after the exchange over Oriol.[^10] Under the estate's 2022 settlement with the territory, the 450,000 dollar remediation payment for Great St. James covered damage where, according to the government, Epstein had razed the remains of structures built by enslaved workers.[^7]
The stop-work order had been issued on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp|Kenneth Mapp's]] administration; Bryan was inaugurated on January 7, 2019, and Epstein contacted him days later, corresponding with him in the months before his arrest. Epstein was arrested in [[New Jersey]] on July 6, 2019, two months after the exchange over Oriol.[^11] Under the estate's 2022 settlement with the territory, the 450,000 dollar remediation payment for Great St. James covered damage where, according to the government, Epstein had razed the remains of structures built by enslaved workers.[^7]
### Footnotes
@ -72,5 +74,6 @@ The stop-work order had been issued on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of G
[^6]: "DPNR planning visit to Epstein's island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2019. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-planning-visit-to-epstein-s-island/ (planned complex of buildings; single minor permit approved; December 21, 2018 stop-work order; alleged violations involving a beach-bar cabana and a driveway).
[^7]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ (450,000 dollars for environmental remediation on Great St. James; razed structures associated with enslaved workers).
[^8]: "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james ; "Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands sell for $60m." *AOL/The Independent,* May 2023. https://www.aol.com/jeffrey-epstein-two-private-islands-160710392.html
[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
[^10]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^9]: Chang, Richard J. "Exclusive: Billionaire Investor Buys Jeffrey Epstein's Private Islands For $60 Million." *Forbes,* May 2023. Copy filed as Exhibit 29 to document 226-30, *Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,* No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), July 24, 2023; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02810216. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02810216.pdf
[^10]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
[^11]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html

28
60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Little St. James.md
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@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
summary: "Little St. James is the roughly 70-acre island off St. Thomas that Jeffrey Epstein owned from 1998 through shell companies, where victims alleged abuse, and which his estate sold to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
location: "U.S. Virgin Islands (off St. Thomas)"
created: 2026-06-20
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-08
relations:
- type: owned
with: "[[Nautilus, Inc.]]"
@ -75,27 +75,29 @@ In May 2023 Epstein's estate sold Little St. James together with the adjacent Gr
Deckoff stated that he intended to develop a luxury resort of about 25 rooms on one of the islands, with reporting at the time citing a planned opening in 2025 and framing the project as a tourism and economic-development venture for the territory. Under the 2022 settlement, half of the Little St. James sale proceeds were directed to the U.S. Virgin Islands government, satisfying part of the estate's obligation.[^9]
Forbes reported in May 2023 that Deckoff said he had never met Epstein and had never set foot on the islands until they were marketed after Epstein's 2019 death, and that the settlement gave the government half the sale proceeds, which it put at about 30 million dollars.[^10] An undated photograph of Deckoff's Black Diamond business card is among the Justice Department's Epstein releases (EFTA01204007), and Epstein's staff gathered information on Black Diamond's aircraft at St. Thomas in May 2014.[^11]
The sale ended Epstein's decades-long association with the U.S. Virgin Islands, transferring both islands to new ownership. Reporting noted the unusual challenge of marketing properties so closely identified with the trafficking operation, which informed both the discounted price and the announced plan to rebrand the islands for resort use.[^9]
### Ownership Structure
On November 22, 2011, a year after Epstein registered in the territory as a sex offender, he incorporated Nautilus, Inc. in the Virgin Islands, with himself as president and director, his lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] as secretary, and his accountant [[Richard Kahn]] as treasurer, and a stated purpose of "holding property for personal use." A quitclaim deed recorded on December 30, 2011 moved Little St. James from L.S.J., LLC to Nautilus for "TEN DOLLARS ($10.00) and other good and valuable consideration." Most of Epstein's other territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, among them LSJ Employees, LLC (registered October 27, 2011 "to provide services"), followed by LSJ Emergency, LLC (December 2, 2015).[^10]
On November 22, 2011, a year after Epstein registered in the territory as a sex offender, he incorporated Nautilus, Inc. in the Virgin Islands, with himself as president and director, his lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] as secretary, and his accountant [[Richard Kahn]] as treasurer, and a stated purpose of "holding property for personal use." A quitclaim deed recorded on December 30, 2011 moved Little St. James from L.S.J., LLC to Nautilus for "TEN DOLLARS ($10.00) and other good and valuable consideration." Most of Epstein's other territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, among them LSJ Employees, LLC (registered October 27, 2011 "to provide services"), followed by LSJ Emergency, LLC (December 2, 2015).[^12]
The island was served by aircraft held through companies that listed Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as a manager or member. [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air, LLC]], organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, owned a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that the territory alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James." Plan D, LLC, which owned the Gulfstream N212JE, listed Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal.[^10]
The island was served by aircraft held through companies that listed Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as a manager or member. [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air, LLC]], organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, owned a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that the territory alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James." Plan D, LLC, which owned the Gulfstream N212JE, listed Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal.[^12]
### Verification, Staff, and Records
Epstein registered annually as a Tier 1 sex offender in the territory from 2010, and the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] periodically visited or tried to visit the island to verify his address. At the last verification, in July 2018, he refused to let the department's investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock, calling it his "front door," and arranged to meet them instead at his office on St. Thomas.[^10]
Epstein registered annually as a Tier 1 sex offender in the territory from 2010, and the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] periodically visited or tried to visit the island to verify his address. At the last verification, in July 2018, he refused to let the department's investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock, calling it his "front door," and arranged to meet them instead at his office on St. Thomas.[^12]
Island employees and others were required to sign confidentiality agreements that barred them from speaking with law enforcement, and were told that if contacted they should notify the Epstein organization and be represented by its counsel; they were also told not to interact with guests or disclose what happened on the island. The former Attorney General Denise George told the FBI in 2023 that when she tried to interview estate employees, they "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals," a reference to Epstein's St. Thomas attorney [[Erika Kellerhals]]. In a December 2014 email to Epstein, his office manager [[Cecile de Jongh]] reported that an employee was "working on the scanning and shredding for all of the entities, FTC, LSJ, Zorro, NES, JEGE, Hyperion, and JEVIF." Documents released by the Justice Department in 2026 included photos and receipts that federal agents reassembled from a bag of shredded paper found during the search of Epstein's house on the island, portions of which remain redacted.[^10][^11][^12]
Island employees and others were required to sign confidentiality agreements that barred them from speaking with law enforcement, and were told that if contacted they should notify the Epstein organization and be represented by its counsel; they were also told not to interact with guests or disclose what happened on the island. The former Attorney General Denise George told the FBI in 2023 that when she tried to interview estate employees, they "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals," a reference to Epstein's St. Thomas attorney [[Erika Kellerhals]]. In a December 2014 email to Epstein, his office manager [[Cecile de Jongh]] reported that an employee was "working on the scanning and shredding for all of the entities, FTC, LSJ, Zorro, NES, JEGE, Hyperion, and JEVIF." Documents released by the Justice Department in 2026 included photos and receipts that federal agents reassembled from a bag of shredded paper found during the search of Epstein's house on the island, portions of which remain redacted.[^12][^13][^14]
### Henry Smock
The St. Thomas attorney [[Henry Smock]] assisted Epstein in the 1998 purchase of the island. Smock later served for years as counsel to the board of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]], which oversees the [[Economic Development Commission]] program that granted Epstein's companies their tax benefits, and to the board of the [[University of the Virgin Islands]]. According to FBI notes of George's 2023 interview, Governor [[Albert Bryan]] told her to settle the territory's case against the Epstein estate for 80 million dollars and to "select Henry Smock" as mediator. Smock later represented Bryan in a 2023 divorce and obtained an order sealing its records. Bryan has said Epstein received no special privilege from his administration.[^11][^13]
The St. Thomas attorney [[Henry Smock]] assisted Epstein in the 1998 purchase of the island. Smock later served for years as counsel to the board of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]], which oversees the [[Economic Development Commission]] program that granted Epstein's companies their tax benefits, and to the board of the [[University of the Virgin Islands]]. According to FBI notes of George's 2023 interview, Governor [[Albert Bryan]] told her to settle the territory's case against the Epstein estate for 80 million dollars and to "select Henry Smock" as mediator. Smock later represented Bryan in a 2023 divorce and obtained an order sealing its records. Bryan has said Epstein received no special privilege from his administration.[^13][^15]
### After the Sale
Under the 2022 settlement the estate agreed to sell both islands to independent third parties and to wind down its business in the territory; the government's half of the Little St. James proceeds came to about 11 million dollars. As of February 2026 the only construction permit the new owner, Stephen Deckoff, had requested was for an 8,800 square foot concrete warehouse on Little St. James, and the territory's Coastal Zone Management director said the application was incomplete without an environmental assessment.[^8][^11][^14]
Under the 2022 settlement the estate agreed to sell both islands to independent third parties and to wind down its business in the territory; the government's half of the Little St. James proceeds came to about 11 million dollars. As of February 2026 the only construction permit the new owner, Stephen Deckoff, had requested was for an 8,800 square foot concrete warehouse on Little St. James, and the territory's Coastal Zone Management director said the application was incomplete without an environmental assessment.[^8][^13][^16]
### Footnotes
@ -108,8 +110,10 @@ Under the 2022 settlement the estate agreed to sell both islands to independent
[^7]: "FBI agents swarm Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island." *NBC News,* August 12, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-agents-swarm-jeffrey-epstein-s-private-caribbean-island-n1041596 (August 12, 2019 search; arrival by boat and helicopter; seizure of electronic devices).
[^8]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ ; "U.S. Virgin Islands reaches a $105M settlement with Jeffrey Epstein's estate." *NPR,* December 1, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/01/1140096222/jeffrey-epsteins-estate-reaches-a-105m-settlement-with-the-u-s-virgin-islands
[^9]: "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james ; "Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands sell for $60m." *AOL/The Independent,* May 2023. https://www.aol.com/jeffrey-epstein-two-private-islands-160710392.html ; "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html
[^10]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 6, 12 to 14, 22 to 25, 34 to 36, 128 to 133, 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 3 to 9, 28 to 30. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^11]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (shredded-paper reconstruction; George's FBI interview; Smock; 11 million dollars from the sale).
[^12]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html
[^13]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^14]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
[^10]: Chang, Richard J. "Exclusive: Billionaire Investor Buys Jeffrey Epstein's Private Islands For $60 Million." *Forbes,* May 2023. Copy filed as Exhibit 29 to document 226-30, *Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,* No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), July 24, 2023; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02810216. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02810216.pdf
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01204007 (photograph of a business card) and EFTA01204006 (screenshot of an aviation application), DataSet 9, undated. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204007.pdf and https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204006.pdf ; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02583238, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Re: Barn," May 16, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02583238.pdf
[^12]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 6, 12 to 14, 22 to 25, 34 to 36, 128 to 133, 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 3 to 9, 28 to 30. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^13]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (shredded-paper reconstruction; George's FBI interview; Smock; 11 million dollars from the sale).
[^14]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html
[^15]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^16]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html

41
60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Dimona.md
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@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ aliases:
- Dimona reactor
- Dimona facility
created: 2025-01-09
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
title: Dimona
tags:
- Place
@ -39,23 +39,31 @@ Special National Intelligence Estimate 100-8-60 of December 8, 1960 stated that
### American visits, 1961 to 1969
Hersh wrote that Ben-Gurion insisted that inspection by the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] would violate Israeli sovereignty, and that [[John F. Kennedy]]'s White House agreed to an American team on terms by which it "would have to schedule its visits well in advance, and with the full acquiescence of Israel. There would be no spot checks permitted."[^9] He wrote that [[Floyd L. Culler, Jr.]] dated the first inspection to 1962 and that Culler's teams made the visits.[^10] According to Hersh, the Israeli scheme "based on plans supplied by the French" built a false control room at Dimona "complete with false control panels and computer-driven measuring devices that seemed to be gauging the thermal output of a twenty-four-megawatt reactor"; Culler told him he reported to the White House that the reactor was a "standard reactor," and when informed of the false room replied, "It's possible to make a system appear that it's controlling something when it's not." A former member of the Israeli General Staff Reconnaissance Unit told Hersh that weeks before an inspection soldiers brought "eight semitrailers loaded with grass. It was sod, all for camouflage," to cover walks and bunkers.[^11] The CIA photo interpreter Brugioni told Hersh that the sudden grass "just spotlights activity."[^11]
Hersh wrote that Ben-Gurion insisted that inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency would violate Israeli sovereignty, and that [[John F. Kennedy]]'s White House agreed to an American team on terms by which it "would have to schedule its visits well in advance, and with the full acquiescence of Israel. There would be no spot checks permitted."[^9] He wrote that [[Floyd L. Culler, Jr.]] dated the first inspection to 1962 and that Culler's teams made the visits.[^10] According to Hersh, the Israeli scheme "based on plans supplied by the French" built a false control room at Dimona "complete with false control panels and computer-driven measuring devices that seemed to be gauging the thermal output of a twenty-four-megawatt reactor"; Culler told him he reported to the White House that the reactor was a "standard reactor," and when informed of the false room replied, "It's possible to make a system appear that it's controlling something when it's not." A former member of the Israeli General Staff Reconnaissance Unit told Hersh that weeks before an inspection soldiers brought "eight semitrailers loaded with grass. It was sod, all for camouflage," to cover walks and bunkers.[^11] The CIA photo interpreter Brugioni told Hersh that the sudden grass "just spotlights activity."[^11]
The documents of 1969 give the American side. On March 17, 1969 Secretary of Defense [[Melvin Laird]] wrote to the Secretary of State, the national security adviser and the Director of Central Intelligence, under the subject "Stopping the Introduction of Nuclear Weapons Into the Middle East," that he had seen "additional evidence of activity" (the object is redacted), referred to export licenses granted the previous June and October for two Control Data 6400 computers and one IBM 360/65 computer, and endorsed [[David Packard]]'s recommendation that shipment of the second CDC 6400 be withheld.[^12] The visit of July 10 to 13, 1969 was, in a State Department memorandum of June 12, 1970, "the last 'visit' to Dimona"; the memorandum added that "no one in the U.S. community has been satisfied with the restrictions and conditions Israel has imposed."[^13] In a memorandum of conversation of August 13, 1969 between Dr. Charles H. Reichardt, the AEC's Director of Intelligence, his deputy Charles A. Sommer, George B. Pleat, chief of the Dimona inspection team, and a State Department officer, the team was said to have drawn "the inference that the US government is not prepared to support a real 'inspection' effort," to have been "cautioned to avoid controversy" and to "be gentlemen," and to have been "criticized roundly" by the Israelis on one occasion "for having 'acted like inspectors'"; the State officer added that "visits conducted under these approaches may even be counter-productive."[^14] A State Department background paper of September 19, 1969 for the visit of Golda Meir, drafted by Robert H. Munn and cleared by [[Joseph Sisco]], [[Rodger Davies]], the Atomic Energy Commission and a CIA officer named Chamberlain, stated: "Our 'visits' to Dimona have shed virtually no light on the role that site may play in a weapons program," that "we have actually learned very little from the standpoint of a weapons program," that Israel had since about 1963 "moved as rapidly as possible" on strategic missiles and warheads, that "all the facilities required for production of plutonium have been identified with the exception of a separation plant," that "others feel confident that Israel already has one or more complete nuclear weapons now," and that Israel's formula was "Israel will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Near East."[^15] [[Henry Kissinger]]'s memorandum of October 7, 1969, "Discussions with the Israelis on Nuclear Matters," was written after the meeting of [[Richard Nixon]] and Meir.[^16] Hersh wrote that the Israeli leadership "correctly interpreted the end of the Culler inspections as an American carte blanche."[^17]
### June 1967
A Control Group paper dated by the Foreign Relations of the United States editors to June 17, 1967 carries an annex on indigenous capabilities to develop nuclear weapons. It describes the reactor at Dimona as a French-built facility of 25 MW, not under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards but inspected by the United States, which "is capable of producing enough plutonium for approximately one nuclear weapon per year." It states that the spent fuel rods "are still at Dimona and have not been subjected to chemical separation," that before the crisis the Israelis "had probably not made a decision to develop nuclear weapons, but probably had decided to keep that option open," and that a decision made then would probably mean 18 months or longer before a first weapon.[^18]
On June 27, 1967, the American ambassador [[Walworth Barbour]] reported from Tel Aviv that Israelis "who have technical capability to build bomb, would, it may be argued, be foolish not to produce extra-conventional weapons." He wrote that the rising popularity of [[Moshe Dayan]], "who has been associated with those favoring the nuclear weapons development," and any rise in the standing of Dayan's associates Peres and Ben-Gurion, "who made the decisions to build Dimona," could lead Israel closer to the nuclear route.[^19] Hersh writes that after the war the intelligence about Dimona became highly compartmentalized as the White House decided to side more openly with Israel, and quotes an unnamed American official: "We knew about the yellowcake, but we weren't allowed to keep a file on it."[^20] Relying on Bill Dale, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, Hersh writes that Barbour told the military attaches at the end of the war that they were no longer to report on Dimona, and quotes Barbour: "Israel is going to be our main ally."[^21]
Avner Cohen, on the basis of interviews with the late [[Yitzhak Ya'akov]], describes the assembly in May 1967 of two or three rudimentary nuclear explosives and a plan, [[Operation Shimshon]], to detonate them in the Egyptian desert as a last resort; the [[Wilson Center]], which released Cohen's collection in June 2017, described Ya'akov's testimony as revealing "for the first time the existence of a crash effort to assemble Israel's first nuclear device."[^22][^23] [[Isabella Ginor]] and [[Gideon Remez]] argue that Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft overflew Dimona in May 1967, to encourage Israel to launch a war and to ensure the site could be destroyed in a planned Arab-Soviet counterattack, and report that in August 2007 the Russian Air Force spokesman Colonel Aleksandr V. Drobyshevsky confirmed in writing that Soviet pilots had flown the sorties.[^24]
### Facilities, as described by Vanunu
Mordecai Vanunu, a technician, gave photographs and an account to the London Sunday Times in 1986 that Hersh summarized as follows. The complex has a main reactor and at least eight other buildings (machons). Machon 1 houses the silver-domed reactor, 60 feet in diameter and visible from a nearby highway, with uranium rods left in the core about three months, heavy water cooled by ordinary water through a heat exchanger, and steam vented into the atmosphere. Machon 2, "the Tunnel," is the six-level underground reprocessing plant where plutonium is extracted; its control room contains an observation area called "Golda's Balcony" for Meir's visits after 1969; plutonium is molded into hemispheres in glove boxes on level five, with lithium compounds and beryllium; and Vanunu gave the output as a weekly average of nine "buttons" of plutonium weighing 1.2 kilograms. Machon 3 converts lithium 6 and processes natural uranium; Machon 4 treats waste; Machon 5 coats rods with aluminum; Machon 6 supplies services and power; Machon 8 holds a test laboratory and Special Unit 840, "where Israeli scientists have developed a gas centrifuge method of enriching uranium for weapons use"; Machon 9 holds a laser-isotope facility; Machon 10 isolates depleted uranium. Unit 92 had been removing tritium from heavy water since the 1960s and Unit 93, opened in 1984, produced tritium on a large scale. The reactor ran 34 weeks a year.[^18] Vanunu's account is the sole source for these passages; Hersh's note states that the nuclear physicist Frank Barnaby spent two days with Vanunu for the Sunday Times and concluded that the account "is totally convincing." The vault's pages on [[Machon 1]], [[Machon 2]], [[Machon 3]], [[Machon 4]], [[Machon 5]], [[Machon 6]], [[Machon 8]], [[Machon 9]] and [[Machon 10]] carry the individual descriptions.
Mordecai Vanunu, a technician, gave photographs and an account to the London Sunday Times in 1986 that Hersh summarized as follows. The complex has a main reactor and at least eight other buildings (machons). Machon 1 houses the silver-domed reactor, 60 feet in diameter and visible from a nearby highway, with uranium rods left in the core about three months, heavy water cooled by ordinary water through a heat exchanger, and steam vented into the atmosphere. Machon 2, "the Tunnel," is the six-level underground reprocessing plant where plutonium is extracted; its control room contains an observation area called "Golda's Balcony" for Meir's visits after 1969; plutonium is molded into hemispheres in glove boxes on level five, with lithium compounds and beryllium; and Vanunu gave the output as a weekly average of nine "buttons" of plutonium weighing 1.2 kilograms. Machon 3 converts lithium 6 and processes natural uranium; Machon 4 treats waste; Machon 5 coats rods with aluminum; Machon 6 supplies services and power; Machon 8 holds a test laboratory and Special Unit 840, "where Israeli scientists have developed a gas centrifuge method of enriching uranium for weapons use"; Machon 9 holds a laser-isotope facility; Machon 10 isolates depleted uranium. Unit 92 had been removing tritium from heavy water since the 1960s and Unit 93, opened in 1984, produced tritium on a large scale. The reactor ran 34 weeks a year.[^25] Vanunu's account is the sole source for these passages; Hersh's note states that the nuclear physicist Frank Barnaby spent two days with Vanunu for the Sunday Times and concluded that the account "is totally convincing." The vault's pages on [[Machon 1]], [[Machon 2]], [[Machon 3]], [[Machon 4]], [[Machon 5]], [[Machon 6]], [[Machon 8]], [[Machon 9]] and [[Machon 10]] carry the individual descriptions.
### The security apparatus
Hersh wrote that [[Binyamin Blumberg]], a former military intelligence officer chosen by Peres, headed the Office of Special Tasks, later known as [[LAKAM]], placed in the Defense Ministry to protect the nuclear project, collect technical information abroad and set up front companies for restricted equipment.[^19] He wrote that Israeli forces watched for photography, that aircraft, "including those belonging to the Israeli Air Force," are forbidden to overfly the site, and that in 1967 an Israeli Mirage was shot down in its airspace.[^20]
Hersh wrote that [[Binyamin Blumberg]], a former military intelligence officer chosen by Peres, headed the Office of Special Tasks, later known as [[LAKAM]], placed in the Defense Ministry to protect the nuclear project, collect technical information abroad and set up front companies for restricted equipment.[^26] He wrote that Israeli forces watched for photography, that aircraft, "including those belonging to the Israeli Air Force," are forbidden to overfly the site, and that in 1967 an Israeli Mirage was shot down in its airspace.[^27]
### Output and tests, as reported by Hersh
Hersh wrote that "sometime early in 1968, Dimona finally was ordered into full-scale production and began turning out four or five warheads a year," and, in another chapter, that by 1973 "according to former Israeli government officials, the Israeli nuclear arsenal totaled at least twenty warheads"; his chapter on the Tunnel states a figure of more than twenty-five by the Yom Kippur War.[^21] He wrote that "well-placed Israeli sources" said that technicians conducted "at least one successful low-yield nuclear test sometime in the mid-1960s at an underground cavern" in the Negev.[^22]
Hersh wrote that "sometime early in 1968, Dimona finally was ordered into full-scale production and began turning out four or five warheads a year," and, in another chapter, that by 1973 "according to former Israeli government officials, the Israeli nuclear arsenal totaled at least twenty warheads"; his chapter on the Tunnel states a figure of more than twenty-five by the Yom Kippur War.[^28] He wrote that "well-placed Israeli sources" said that technicians conducted "at least one successful low-yield nuclear test sometime in the mid-1960s at an underground cavern" in the Negev.[^29]
On September 22, 1979 the Vela 6911 satellite recorded a double flash over the South Indian Ocean; the technicians of the [[Air Force Technical Applications Center]] at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] had seen 41 earlier double flashes, each confirmed as a nuclear explosion.[^23] Hersh wrote that "former Israeli government officials, whose information on other aspects of Dimona's activities has been corroborated," said the event was a low-yield Israeli artillery shell tested with the South African Navy observing and was the third such test over the ocean; he wrote that the presidential science adviser [[Frank Press]] wanted the review panel to buy time and that an aide recalled Press "did not want that panel to conclude there had been a nuclear explosion."[^24] The panel chaired by [[Jack Ruina]], which included [[Richard Garwin]], [[Luis Alvarez]] and [[Wolfgang Panofsky]], concluded in May 1980 that the signal was more likely a meteoroid striking the satellite and sunlight reflecting off the ejected particles, while reports from [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], [[SRI International]], [[Sandia National Laboratories]], the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] and the [[Aerospace Corporation]] published in 2006 included several that held a nuclear test most probable.[^23] See [[VELA Satellite]] and [[Nuclear Intelligence Panel]].
On September 22, 1979 the Vela 6911 satellite recorded a double flash over the South Indian Ocean; the technicians of the [[Air Force Technical Applications Center]] at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] had seen 41 earlier double flashes, each confirmed as a nuclear explosion.[^30] Hersh wrote that "former Israeli government officials, whose information on other aspects of Dimona's activities has been corroborated," said the event was a low-yield Israeli artillery shell tested with the South African Navy observing and was the third such test over the ocean; he wrote that the presidential science adviser [[Frank Press]] wanted the review panel to buy time and that an aide recalled Press "did not want that panel to conclude there had been a nuclear explosion."[^31] The panel chaired by [[Jack Ruina]], which included [[Richard Garwin]], [[Luis Alvarez]] and [[Wolfgang Panofsky]], concluded in May 1980 that the signal was more likely a meteoroid striking the satellite and sunlight reflecting off the ejected particles, while reports from [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], [[SRI International]], [[Sandia National Laboratories]], the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] and the [[Aerospace Corporation]] published in 2006 included several that held a nuclear test most probable.[^30] See [[VELA Satellite]] and [[Nuclear Intelligence Panel]].
### Doctrine and deterrence
@ -80,10 +88,17 @@ Hersh's title phrase, [[The Samson Option (GFE)|the Samson Option]], is treated
[^15]: Department of State, "Background: Israel's Nuclear Weapon and Missile Programs," enclosed in Executive Secretary Theodore L. Eliot to Henry Kissinger, September 19, 1969, EBB 189, document 21 (pp. 2 to 8, with drafting and clearance box). https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB189/IN-21.pdf ; Cohen, Avner, and William Burr, "Israel crosses the threshold," *Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,* May/June 2006.
[^16]: Kissinger, Henry A., to the President, "Discussions with the Israelis on Nuclear Matters," October 7, 1969, EBB 189, document 22 (title and date; the National Security Archive's index describes it as written "in the wake of the Nixon-Meir meeting"). https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB189/IN-22.pdf
[^17]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 16, "Prelude to War," on the end of the Culler inspections.
[^18]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 15, "The Tunnel."
[^19]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 5, "Internal Wars," and chapter 10 (Office of Special Tasks).
[^20]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 10, p. 131 and its footnote.
[^21]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 13, "An Israeli Decision" (1968 production; more than twenty-five bombs), and chapter 16, "Prelude to War" (at least twenty warheads by 1973).
[^22]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 10, p. 131.
[^23]: Richelson, Jeffrey T., ed., "The Vela Incident: Nuclear Test or Meteoroid?" National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 190, May 5, 2006. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/index.htm
[^24]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 20, "An Israeli Test," pp. 271-273.
[^18]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 305, Paper Submitted by the Control Group, undated (dated June 17, 1967 by the editors), with annex. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d305
[^19]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 326, Telegram 4311 from the Embassy in Israel (Barbour) to the Department of State, June 27, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d326
[^20]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 11, p. 156. Sole source for the passages so cited; the official is unnamed.
[^21]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12, p. 168. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^22]: Cohen, Avner. "Israel's Secret Plan to Nuke the Egyptian Desert." *Politico Magazine*, June 5, 2017, republished by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. https://nonproliferation.org/israels-secret-plan-to-nuke-the-egyptian-desert/. Sole source for the passages so cited; Cohen relays the testimony of Ya'akov.
[^23]: Wilson Center, "Wilson Center Archive Sheds New Light on 1967 Six-Day War," June 5, 2017. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/wilson-center-archive-sheds-new-light-1967-six-day-war
[^24]: Ginor, Isabella, and Gideon Remez. *Foxbats over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War*. Yale University Press, 2007; their report of the 2007 Russian Air Force statement, https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/42140. Sole source for the overflights.
[^25]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 15, "The Tunnel."
[^26]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 5, "Internal Wars," and chapter 10 (Office of Special Tasks).
[^27]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 10, p. 131 and its footnote.
[^28]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 13, "An Israeli Decision" (1968 production; more than twenty-five bombs), and chapter 16, "Prelude to War" (at least twenty warheads by 1973).
[^29]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 10, p. 131.
[^30]: Richelson, Jeffrey T., ed., "The Vela Incident: Nuclear Test or Meteoroid?" National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 190, May 5, 2006. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/index.htm
[^31]: Hersh, *The Samson Option,* chapter 20, "An Israeli Test," pp. 271-273.

25
60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Ilopango Airbase.md
View file

@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ aliases:
- Ilopango Air Force Base
- Ilopango
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Military Installation"
tags:
- Geography
@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ Ilopango Air Force Base is a military airfield outside [[San Salvador]], [[El Sa
### Contra Resupply Hub
The [[Contras]] had been using Ilopango with Salvadoran Air Force commander General Juan Rafael Bustillo's blessings since 1983, when [[Norwin Meneses]]'s friend, CIA pilot [[Marcos Aguado]], arranged to base [[Eden Pastora]]'s ARDE air force there. Most accounts date the Contras' intensified use to September 1985, when North wrote to [[Felix Rodriguez]] asking him to use his influence with Bustillo to secure hangar space. Rodriguez "greased the skids" with Bustillo and became overseer of North's Contra resupply operation. Rodriguez recruited [[Luis Posada Carriles]] as his day-to-day manager, operating under the alias "Ramon Medina."[^1]
According to Gary Webb, the [[Contras]] had been using Ilopango with Salvadoran Air Force commander General [[Juan Rafael Bustillo]]'s blessing since 1983, when [[Norwin Meneses]]'s friend, the pilot [[Marcos Aguado]], arranged to base [[Eden Pastora]]'s ARDE air force there.[^2] The CIA Inspector General gives Aguado a Sandinista Air Force and Aeronica career until his 1983 defection and records him as Chief of Air Operations for the Sandino Revolutionary Front and ARDE by September 1984.[^3] Most accounts date the Contras' intensified use to September 1985, when North wrote to [[Felix Rodriguez]] asking him to use his influence with Bustillo to secure hangar space. Rodriguez "greased the skids" with Bustillo and became overseer of North's Contra resupply operation. Rodriguez recruited [[Luis Posada Carriles]] as his day-to-day manager, operating under the alias "Ramon Medina."[^1]
In October 1986 the [[Christian Science Monitor]] reported that the Contras had used Ilopango "at least since 1984, and probably earlier," to ship supplies to Pastora in Costa Rica, and that Bustillo "has been a major contact person for aiding the contra shipments, according to diplomats and other informed sources."[^4] Senate subcommittee records show some 156,000 pounds of material moved from Ilopango to Costa Rican airfields between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986 on a C-47 that had been transferred to Aguado for one dollar, on 24 flights, eleven of them to [[La Penca]].[^5]
The operation was run openly. The assistant regional security officer for the U.S. embassy in San Salvador told Iran-Contra investigators in 1991: "The woman selling tortillas at the gate of Ilopango could tell you what was going on. Anyone who ever flew into or over Ilopango air base could see something like that was going on. When looking down at Ilopango from the air, one could see one side of the airfield having a ragtag operation of inferior planes, dilapidated buildings and the like. On the other side of the airport were nice facilities, lift trucks unloading supplies from more sophisticated and bigger aircraft, and gringos running around." The modern facilities "all belonged to the American operation."[^1]
@ -35,7 +37,11 @@ In March 1986, a cable from the Costa Rican [[DEA]] office reported that a pilot
DEA agent [[Celerino Castillo]]'s informant Murga, who wrote flight plans for private planes on the civilian side of the base, reported that Contra pilots were brazenly flying drugs to the United States and money to Panama, sometimes leaving with kilos in plain view or arriving with boxloads of money. When Castillo ran pilot names through DEA computers, nearly all came back as documented narcotics traffickers. Among the busiest pilots was [[Francisco Guirola Beeche]], who was later observed zooming in and out of Ilopango hauling drugs in and carrying cash to the Bahamas.[^1]
Former Meneses aide [[Enrique Miranda]] testified that cocaine from [[Colombia]] arrived at various Costa Rican airstrips, including one on CIA operative [[John Hull]]'s farm, and was placed aboard Contra planes flown into Ilopango. There, Marcos Aguado and Norwin Meneses supervised loading the cocaine onto U.S.-bound aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and, on occasion, the Miami-based CIA contractor [[Southern Air Transport]]. Miranda said Meneses told him U.S. military hardware stockpiled at Ilopango was loaded onto Salvadoran transport planes and flown south, where guns were traded for cocaine and flown back.[^1]
Former Meneses aide [[Enrique Miranda]] testified at the 1991 Nicaraguan trial that cocaine from [[Colombia]] arrived at various Costa Rican airstrips, including one on CIA operative [[John Hull]]'s farm, and was placed aboard Contra planes flown into Ilopango. There, according to Miranda, Aguado and Meneses supervised loading the cocaine onto U.S.-bound aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and, on occasion, the Miami-based CIA contractor [[Southern Air Transport]]. Miranda said Meneses told him U.S. military hardware stockpiled at Ilopango was loaded onto Salvadoran transport planes and flown south, where guns were traded for cocaine and flown back.[^1]
In February and March 1988 a CIA station cable reported that the Guatemalan suspected trafficker Reyner Veliz Cruz flew into Ilopango with Aguado in a twin-engine aircraft, the second time after customs officers had left, and that customs personnel at Ilopango "assume that Aguado has connections with drug trafficking."[^6]
The Justice Department Inspector General reports that on December 14, 1988 Bustillo met DEA agent Celerino Castillo to discuss Castillo's suspicions that Salvadoran Air Force officers were using Ilopango for drug trafficking; Castillo named, among others, Air School Director Lieutenant Colonel Manfredo Koenigsberg, and according to a State Department cable of January 3, 1989, Bustillo said he would investigate and seek to transfer the officer. After DEA agent Richard deTriquet was detailed to Guatemala in 1989, he and Castillo went to El Salvador to investigate reports that cocaine moved through hangar five; a Salvadoran security officer denied them access, and the CIA chief of station told them there was no drug activity associated with hangar five.[^7]
### CIA Obstruction of Investigations
@ -43,8 +49,19 @@ When Celerino Castillo's investigation began probing the hangars, the CIA sent a
U.S. Ambassador Edwin Corr sent a secret "back channel" cable to the State Department requesting an internal DEA review of Castillo's allegations. The DEA informed Corr that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and Castillo was told to close his investigation. When he continued, Corr personally ordered him to "stop the witch hunt." Three years later, when Castillo opened another investigation into drug trafficking at Hangar No. 5, the CIA refused to allow him on the base.[^1]
[[Alan Fiers|Alan Fiers Jr.]], the former CIA official who headed the Contra program from 1984 to 1988, acknowledged: "We had a capability and indeed a responsibility for reporting what had been happening at Ilopango." The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] exposed as false, having found and quoted from the reports liberally.[^1]
[[Alan Fiers|Alan Fiers Jr.]], the former CIA official who headed the Contra program from 1984 to 1988, acknowledged: "We had a capability and indeed a responsibility for reporting what had been happening at Ilopango." The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango, a claim the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] exposed as false, having found and quoted from the reports liberally.[^1]
### Bombs from the Airport Battalion, 1992
Five 500-pound bombs were taken from a battalion at the San Salvador airport on February 26, 1992. [[Semana]] reported on April 12, 1992 that the arrested men, among them a Salvadoran army colonel, [[Roberto Antonio Leiva Jacobo]], confessed that members of the [[Cali Drug Cartel|Cali cartel]] had hired them and paid four million dollars for the bombs, and that the bombs were meant for a plan to kill [[Pablo Escobar]] in the [[Envigado]] prison.[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends"
[^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), Chapter 13, "The wrong kind of friends," and Cast of Characters. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^3]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), Marcos Antonio Aguado section of the Southern Front chapter, https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html
[^4]: "Salvador airport said to be transfer point for arms to contras," *Christian Science Monitor*, October 10, 1986, https://proof.csmonitor.com/1986/1010/omerc.html
[^5]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^6]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), Marcos Antonio Aguado section and the pilots chapter (March 23, 1988 cable on Reyner Veliz Cruz), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html and https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/pilots.html
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter X, sections D and E, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch10p3.htm
[^8]: "¿Bombas contra Escobar?", *Semana*, April 12, 1992, https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/bombas-contra-escobar/17208-3. Sole source for the 1992 bomb-case details; the Cali cartel buyers are Semana's report of the arrested men's confessions and of an unnamed Salvadoran government source.