Mena Operations

Edition label: 2026-10

Secondary-source summary. This page summarises published books and memoirs (Whitney Webb, Victor Ostrovsky, Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon, Ari Ben-Menashe, Israel Shahak). Allegations are attributed to their authors and are not independently established by primary records held in this archive.

Definition: Drug-smuggling activity and covert Contra resupply operations were associated with Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, Arkansas, during roughly 1982–1986.¹

Overview

Mena, Arkansas was associated with covert Contra resupply activity and drug smuggling in the early-to-mid 1980s.² The key reported facts:

Barry Seal, a professional drug smuggler and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset, operated from Mena³
Seal flew cocaine for the Medellín cartel; a C-123K he had used for drug flights was later acquired for the Contra resupply operation.⁴
The C-123K aircraft Seal flew was later shot down over Nicaragua (October 1986), and the capture of survivor Eugene Hasenfus began exposing the Contra-resupply side of the Iran-Contra affair⁵
Arkansas and federal investigators pursued Mena-related leads, but multiple proposed cases were dropped or closed despite investigators’ objections.⁶

Clinton Administration Nexus

Whitney Webb (One Nation Under Blackmail, Ch. 8) reports allegations from several sources about the Arkansas political environment around Mena, including claims that Governor Bill Clinton was aware of the operations; the bullets below record what the cited chapter does and does not support:⁷

Webb discusses Raymond Clinton as Bill Clinton’s uncle and political helper; the cited chapter does not identify him as a CIA informant or as providing protection for Mena.⁸
Terry Reed alleged a connection between Dan Lasater and Seal, but the cited material does not establish distribution of Mena-sourced cocaine.⁹
Webb reports that the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA) directed state bond business to figures connected to the network¹⁰
Roger Clinton (Bill’s half-brother) was arrested in 1985 for selling cocaine and released from prison in 1986¹¹

Webb mostly frames Clinton’s precise role as alleged rather than confirmed (though in Ch. 17 she refers to “Clinton’s own history in Iran-Contra” without a hedge) and assembles circumstantial and disputed links among Arkansas figures, Clinton associates, and Mena.

The 1992 Duncan memo and the attorney general’s office

Webb (Ch. 8) quotes a 1992 memo from former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigator William Duncan to senior staff of the attorney general recording that he had been instructed to remove all files concerning the Mena investigation from the attorney general’s office.¹² The memo as quoted does not say who gave the instruction or which office was meant; Webb notes that the United States attorney general at the time was William Barr, joining the two by date only.¹³ Webb also notes that proposed Mena cases were dropped or closed despite investigators’ objections.¹⁴

Connection to Epstein

Whitney Webb draws comparisons between the Mena record and later people and institutions: 1. Clinton’s White House, where Webb reports Epstein was given access from 1993, facilitated by Middleton and signed off, in her account, by Robert Rubin, then director of the National Economic Council; at p. 834 Webb hedges both the identification (the visitor log reads simply Rubin, believed by her to be Robert Rubin) and whether he was responsible for the visit, while p. 388 states the identification flatly as a forward reference to that chapter.¹⁵ 2. Webb later reports that Epstein, Wexner and The Limited courted Southern Air Transport to relocate to the Rickenbacker airstrip in Columbus; the cited material does not establish that Leslie Wexner or Epstein participated in Mena or Contra operations.¹⁶

The cited sources do not document an ADFA-to-Epstein transaction or institutional link. Webb notes only indirect associations: Coral Reinsurance, whose largest stockholder was the ADFA, was set up by Goldman Sachs under Robert Rubin, who she says signed off on Epstein’s first Clinton White House visit, and one hand-picked Coral holder, Samuel Zell, had ties to the Gouletas family, whom she links to Epstein.¹⁷ No ADFA comparison is carried on this page.

Barry Seal — Mena primary operator
Dan Lasater — Arkansas figure whom Terry Reed linked to Seal
Bill Clinton — Governor of Arkansas during the Mena period; Webb reports allegations that he was aware of the operations, not established facts
Jackson Stephens — Arkansas power structure; ADFA
William P. Barr — attorney general in 1992; Webb joins the Duncan memo’s reference to the attorney general’s office to him by date only

CIA-Linked Airlines and Rickenbacker Cargo Infrastructure — Southern Air Transport and Contra aviation; Webb cites Fitrakis on Epstein, Wexner and The Limited courting the airline
Chinagate and Chinese Intelligence Penetration — Stephens/Riady nexus from same Arkansas power structure

Source References

Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022. — Ch. 8; Seal; Lasater; Clinton/Raymond Clinton; the 1992 Duncan memo; ADFA
U.S. Congress. House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select Committee (Lee H. Hamilton and Daniel K. Inouye, chairmen). Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views. H. Rept. 100-433. 100th Cong., 1st sess., November 1987.
Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press. Held electronic manifestation, copyright 1998, 1999, ISBN 978-1-888363-93-7, including post-1998 material; exact electronic issue date unstated.

Open Questions

What additional findings about Mena appear in congressional investigations beyond the Kerry subcommittee findings quoted by the cited secondary accounts?¹⁸
What is the documentary record of Barr’s involvement, if any, in stopping the Mena investigation?
What happened to the evidence Barry Seal possessed at the time of his murder?
Which court records establish the charge, plea and judgment in Dan Lasater’s case, given Gary Webb’s report of a 1986 indictment and guilty plea to drug trafficking?¹⁹
Which primary court records establish the charge, plea and judgment in Roger Clinton’s cocaine-distribution case?
How strong, on balance, is the evidence Webb assembles connecting Arkansas figures, Clinton associates, and Mena?

See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “e location that Seal selected” (secondary reporting; Seal’s Mena base in the 1980s); See also Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press. Held electronic manifestation, copyright 1998, 1999, ISBN 978-1-888363-93-7, including post-1998 material; exact electronic issue date unstated, PDF p. 137, para. beginning “Another similarity” (secondary reporting; Seal’s 1982 move to Mena); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 370, para. beginning “Seal was far from being” (Terry Reed’s claim as reported by Webb; Contra resupply training at Nella, 10 miles north of Mena); But see Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 367, para. beginning “Barry Seal’s untimely death” (post-1986 activity at Mena reported for 1987); But see Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 368, para. beginning “Several years later” (Mena-linked C-130 activity to 1991)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “Udall was not alone” (secondary reporting; Seal tied to the Contra support network); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 370, para. beginning “Seal was far from being” (Terry Reed’s claim as reported by Webb)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “Udall was not alone” (secondary reporting; “CIA asset” is Webb’s characterisation, primary government record unavailable); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “e location that Seal selected” (secondary reporting; Mena base); See also Webb, Dark Alliance, held later electronic manifestation (copyright 1998, 1999), PDF p. 139, para. beginning “Seal’s ‘personal records’” (secondary reporting quoting Roger Morris, Partners in Power)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “Udall was not alone”, sentence on Ochoa (secondary reporting; Medellín cocaine); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “Udall was not alone”, sentence on the drug flights (secondary reporting); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, opening paragraph (secondary reporting; Enterprise acquisition via Udall, March 1986); See also U.S. Congress. House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select Committee (Lee H. Hamilton and Daniel K. Inouye, chairmen). Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views. H. Rept. 100-433. 100th Cong., 1st sess., November 1987, Ch. 7, p. 144 (PDF p. 168), “The Hasenfus Downing” (congressional report; the Enterprise aircraft was a Contra resupply flight)↩︎
U.S. Congress. House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select Committee (Lee H. Hamilton and Daniel K. Inouye, chairmen). Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views. H. Rept. 100-433. 100th Cong., 1st sess., November 1987, Ch. 7, p. 144 (PDF p. 168), “The Hasenfus Downing” (congressional report; shoot-down and capture); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 362, opening paragraph, first sentences (secondary reporting; aircraft type C-123K); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 362, opening paragraph, shoot-down and capture (secondary reporting; Hasenfus’s interrogation began exposing the Contra-resupply plot); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “Udall was not alone” (secondary reporting; same C-123K previously used by Seal); See also U.S. Congress. House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select Committee (Lee H. Hamilton and Daniel K. Inouye, chairmen). Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views. H. Rept. 100-433. 100th Cong., 1st sess., November 1987, Preface, “Origins of this Report” (PDF p. 23) (congressional report; the broader Iran arms-sales scandal broke separately with the Al-Shiraa report of Nov. 3, 1986)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “e report of the Kerry Commission” (secondary reporting quoting the 1989 Kerry subcommittee report, primary report unavailable); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, para. beginning “A empts to investigate” (secondary reporting citing Wall Street Journal, 1999); See also Webb, Dark Alliance, held later electronic manifestation (copyright 1998, 1999), PDF p. 139, para. beginning “The same Senate subcommittee” (secondary reporting quoting the Kerry report)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 370, para. beginning “e underworld gures” (L. D. Brown’s account as reported by Webb); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, para. beginning “Reed alleged” (Terry Reed’s allegation as reported by Webb); See also Webb, Dark Alliance, held later electronic manifestation (copyright 1998, 1999), PDF p. 139, para. beginning “Clinton’s critics” (secondary reporting; critics’ charge, not a finding)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 369, para. beginning “ere is some evidence” (secondary reporting; uncle); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 369, para. beginning “ese ties paid oﬀ” (secondary reporting; political help); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 370, first paragraph (the CHAOS-informant claim concerns Bill, not Raymond, Clinton)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 370, para. beginning “Reed charges” (Terry Reed’s allegation as reported by Webb); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF pp. 372–373, para. beginning “Reed alleged” (Lasater’s cocaine use with Roger Clinton; no Mena sourcing stated); But see Webb, Dark Alliance, held later electronic manifestation (copyright 1998, 1999), PDF p. 139 (L. D. Brown’s allegation about Clinton’s reply concerning Seal’s cocaine flights)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 384, para. beginning “e fortunes of Jackson Stephens” (secondary reporting); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 385, first paragraph (secondary reporting)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, final paragraph (secondary reporting; Webb describes an arrest rather than quoting a conviction record); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 373, para. beginning “As for Roger Clinton” (secondary reporting; released from prison in 1986)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, para. beginning “Duncan would later say” (secondary reporting of the memo; primary memo unavailable); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, para. beginning “A empts to investigate” (Duncan identified as former IRS investigator)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 372, para. beginning “Duncan would later say” (the quoted memo names no instructing official; Barr is joined by date)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “e report of the Kerry Commission” (secondary reporting quoting the Kerry subcommittee report)↩︎
Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 16, PDF p. 834, first paragraph (secondary reporting of visitor logs; identification hedged); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 16, PDF p. 834, second paragraph (author’s conditional); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 388, para. beginning “In order to hide” (flat statement, forward reference to ch. 16); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 16, PDF p. 853, final paragraph (secondary reporting; Middleton facilitated most visits); Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 16, PDF p. 854, first paragraph (secondary reporting; Middleton meetings); But see Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 16, PDF p. 882, para. beginning “Epstein began meeting” (dates the Middleton meetings from 1994)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 17, PDF p. 912, first paragraph (secondary reporting; names The Limited, Ohio politicians and Rickenbacker officials); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 2, ch. 17, PDF pp. 912–913, para. beginning “Reporting from Bob Fitrakis” (Fitrakis reporting, per Webb, that Epstein was one of the figures involved with Wexner and The Limited in courting SAT)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 388, para. beginning “In order to hide its connection to Coral” (Rubin oversaw the set-up of Coral Reinsurance and, per Webb, signed off on Epstein’s first White House visit); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 388, para. beginning “Goldman Sachs organized Coral” (Coral holder Samuel Zell tied to the Gouletas family, whose ties to Epstein Webb details in ch. 12); See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 388, para. beginning “e ADFA, however” (the ADFA was the largest holder of Coral stock); See also Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 388 (Rubin and the first White House visit; secondary reporting)↩︎
See Webb, Whitney. One Nation Under Blackmail. 2 vols. 2022, vol. 1, ch. 8, PDF p. 363, para. beginning “e report of the Kerry Commission” (secondary reporting quoting the Kerry subcommittee report)↩︎
See Webb, Dark Alliance, held later electronic manifestation (copyright 1998, 1999), PDF p. 139 (secondary reporting of the indictment and guilty plea)↩︎