March 1986:According to a sworn statement of pilot Michael Tolliver, Felix Rodriguez had met him
in July 1985. Now Rodriguez instructed Tolliver to go to Miami International Airport.
Tolliver picked up a DC-6 aircraft and a crew, and flew the plane to a Contra base in
Honduras. There Tolliver watched the unloading of 14 tons of military supplies, and the
loading of 12 and 2/3 tons of marijuana. Following his instructions from Rodriguez,
Tolliver flew the dope to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. The next day Rodriguez
paid Tolliver $75,000.@s5@s6
Tolliver says that another of the flights he performed for Rodriguez carried cocaine on
the return trip to the U.S.A. He made a series of arms deliveries from Miami into the air
base at Agucate, Honduras. He was paid in cash by Rodriguez and his old Miami CIA
colleague, Rafael Chi Chi '' Quintero. In another circuit of flights, Tolliver and his crew flew between Miami and El Salvador's Ilopango air base. Tolliver said that Rodriguez and Quintero instructed me where to go and who to see. '' While making these flights,
he could go by any route available without any interference from any agency. We didn't need a stamp of approval from Customs or anybody.... ''@s5@s7 With reference to the covert arms shipments out of Miami, George Bush's son Jeb said: Sure, there's a
pretty good chance that arms were shipped, but does that break any law? I'm not sure it's
illegal. The Neutrality Act is a completely untested notion, established in the 1800s.
''@s5@s8
Smuggling Missiles and Reporting to the Boss
Trafficking in lethal weapons without government authorization is always a tricky
business for covert operators. But when the operatives are smuggling weapons in a
particular traffic which the U.S. Congress has expressly prohibited, a good deal of
criminal expertise and certain crucial contacts are required for success. And when the
smugglers report to the Vice President, who wishes his role to remain concealed, the
whole thing can become very sticky--or even ludicrous to the point of low comedy.
March 26, 1986:Oliver North sent a message to Robert McFarlane about his efforts to procure missiles for
the Contras, and to circumvent many U.S. laws, as well as the customs services and
police forces of several nations. The most important component of such transactions,
aside from the purchase money, was a falsified document showing the supposed recipient
of the arms, the end-user certificate (EUC). In the message he wrote, North said that we have '' an EUC; that is, a false document has been acquired for this arms sale: [W]e
are trying to find a way to get 10 BLOWPIPE launchers and 20 missiles from [a South
American country] ... thru the Short Bros. Rep.... Short Bros., the mfgr. of the
BLOWPIPE, is willing to arrange the deal, conduct the training and even send U.K.
`tech. reps' ... if we can close the arrangement. Dick Secord has already paid 10% down
on the delivery and we have a [country deleted] EUC which is acceptable to [that South
American country]. ''@s5@s9 Now, since this particular illegal sale somehow came to