Adler Berriman “Barry” Seal had a brief, but spectacular, career as a cocaine smuggler-turned DEA informant. At the height of his career, he was under investigation by the DEA in Mena, Arkansas, and New Orleans, Louisiana, in addition to being under the watchful eye of the FBI. Despite the heat surrounding Seal, he made a drug run to Nicaragua in 1984, where he picked up 1,465 pounds of cocaine and took photos of Sandinista soldiers loading the drugs. Then the Washington Post leaked the story, revealing that Seal was working undercover for the CIA. As a result of the article, Seal has long been identified as an undercover CIA informant. The conspiracy revolving around this supposition included the attorney general, FBI agents, Gov. Bill Clinton, and others inside the CIA.

Author Del Hahn, who worked on the FBI drug task force that targeted Seal, presents a different story. Hahn begins by calling into question the accuracy and legitimacy of the primary literary sources that support these “CIA/Mena myths.” In doing so, Hahn aims to dispel the distorted stories, rumors, and outright lies about Seal, the government’s investigation of him, and the actions that led to his murder by Colombian drug lords in 1986 at a halfway house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.