Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal (July 16, 1939 – February 19, 1986) was an American airline pilot who became a major drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel. When Seal was convicted of smuggling charges, he became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and testified in several major drug trials. He was murdered in 1986 by contract killers hired by Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellín Cartel.
Seal joined TWA as a flight engineer in 1964, and was soon promoted to first officer, then captain, flying a Boeing 707 on a regular Western Europe route. He was one of the youngest 707 command pilots in the TWA fleet.
Seal's career with TWA ended in July 1972 when he was arrested for involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle a shipment of plastic explosives to Mexico using a DC-4. The case was eventually dismissed in 1974 for prosecutorial misconduct, but TWA in the meantime fired Seal, who had falsely taken medical leave to participate in the scheme.
According to statements Seal later made after he became a DEA informant, he began smuggling small quantities of marijuana in 1976. By 1978, however, he had begun flying significant loads of cocaine because pound-for-pound it was more profitable.
In December 1979, Seal was arrested in Honduras after returning from a drug smuggling trip to Ecuador. Although the Honduran police did not find any cocaine, they did find an M-1 rifle, and Seal was imprisoned until July 1980. Undeterred by his arrest, Seal expanded his operations on his return to the United States. He hired William Bottoms, his ex-brother-in-law as a pilot and from 1980 on, Bottoms was the main pilot in Seal's smuggling, while Seal oversaw planning and operations.
Seal later began working for the Medellín Cartel as a pilot and drug smuggler. He transported numerous shipments of cocaine from Colombia and Panama to the United States and earned as much as $500,000 per flight.
After successful runs at his home base in Louisiana he moved operations to Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, an airport facility in Mena, Arkansas. There he bought, sold, and operated many planes.
