“As the boats reached the shore, every person onboard stood up with some type of weapon pointed at me. They were screaming in English & Spanish for me to lie down on the beach. About that time, the men that Sheldon had seen came running down the isthmus, armed to the teeth.

Some surrounded me; others went off in different directions.

One, who appeared to be the leader of the raid – and who looked & acted American – handcuffed me.

He took out a photo, glanced at it and looked at me hard, saying I was the one they were looking for.

He identified himself as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and told me that I was under arrest.

He informed me that I had been indicted in the US in 1981 for drug related crimes along with my friend Carlos Lehder. I was told that he’d been captured two days earlier in Columbia. I was also informed that they had known where I was living for a year and a half, and they didn’t bother with me until they captured Carlos, whom he referred to as the “Kingpin” of the Medellin Cartel.

The DEA agent, now accompanied by another agent, proceeded to our home where they ransacked the place. Most of Noriega’s people were combing the property looking for contraband, I presume. Except for a small stash of pot for my personal pleasure, there was nothing to be found.

They had been looking for a cache of Columbian cocaine and weapons, assuming that I was operating a waypoint for the trans-shipment of drugs from the Cartel in Columbia – through Panama – and as I later learned, to Nicaragua. 

After thoroughly searching our property, and finding nothing, they realized we were living a Spartan lifestyle that could be likened to the story of Robinson Crusoe.”

- Jack Reed

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