El Paso 10
by David Willingham
From someone that was there. In November 1976, Jimmie Birdsong of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD or OBN) came to the Ardmore Police Dept. and had a meeting with Chief Bill Culley, Det. David Willingham and Det. Terry Dickson. He outlined an intelligence report that reportedly concerned Ardmore Airpark as a huge drug (marijuana) drop point. EPIC (El Paso Intelligence Center) had told OBNDD that a plane was being prepped to haul marijuana from Columbia and possibly back to Ardmore.
Birdsong was asking for some assistance from Ardmore PD since we had worked very closely with OBN in the past. He said that there was a plane at the airpark being outfitted with plexiglass flooring so marijuana bales would easily slide for loading. He also had a date of when someone was coming to the airpark to fly the plane out.
The day before Thanksgiving 1976, Terry Dickson and David Willingham went to the airpark and met Birdsong and found a good spot to sit and wait along with two US Customs Agents and their plane. Birdsong said he had obtained a warrant to place a transponder in the suspect plane. It was in the late, late afternoon a yellow Cessna 310 landed and the pilot (James Richard Joyce) went into the building where the work was being done on the suspect plane. After about an hour the pilot taxied out in a Lockheed Loadstar. The one Birdsong and Customs had put a transponder on. That pilot and plane took off with two Customs Agents following in their plane.
It was assumed by Birdsong, that they would be returning to the Ardmore Airpark to deliver their Illegal load. Birdsong, Willingham and Dickson waited all day Thanksgiving and then the next morning Customs notified Birdsong that they had been delayed in South Texas by bad weather. The next day Birdsong was told that the Lockheed Loadstar had been seized in Columbia for Customs violations. Birdsong said the deal was over and to go on about our regular business.
In late December, 1976, I believe the 30th or 31st, David Willingham received a frantic call from Birdsong who said that the Chagra’s had obtained another plane and were believed headed to Ardmore. Willingham was told to head to the Airpark and OBN, DEA and US CUSTOMS would be coming from Oklahoma City. Birdsong had told Willingham that the large 4 engine plane had the Cessna 310 (the one mentioned earlier) running cover for Customs. The Cessna 310 had landed in New Orleans to check in at Customs while the suspect plane flew below radar.
Then, what got everyone’s attention was, the suspect plane (which turned out to be a C54 or DC4, landed in Sulphur Springs, TX for fuel. They parked at the far end of the runway and demanded the fuel truck come out to the plane. The fuel person had noted that the windows were covered and the person that he talked to said they were carrying nuclear waste.
Willingham notified the Chief and then picked up Terry Dickson and headed to the airpark in Willingham’s personal vehicle. As Willingham and Dickson were traveling down highway 53 they passed four U-Haul trucks. The detectives took up a position near the airport tower. They got out on foot and found a place of concealment. They saw that a small plane was landing and it taxied out to the far end (east side) of the airport. The small plane stayed there for a while and then started toward the tower. The detective’s headed for the car and Richard Joyce, the pilot of the Cessna 310, called to us and wanted to know if there was anyone there to fuel them. They said no and kept moving. The plane Joyce was in was the same yellow Cessna 310 that had flown into the Airpark in November. The detectives were in contact with OBN by radio.
The detectives could see the U-Haul trucks entering to the south of where they were parked. The trucks lights were turned off and they started moving to the east and to the far east side of the airport. Watching with binoculars, the detectives could see movement and at one time a marker light on the truck cargo box. After a period of time the detectives could see the U-Haul trucks begin to leave.
OBN had a plan with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to completely surround the Airpark and OBN had contacted them and activated the plan. As the U-Haul trucks began to leave the OHP was stopping them. The Troopers arrested the U-Haul truck drivers and the occupants of two cars that was associated with the trucks. By that time Agent Birdsong was near Ardmore Airpark. He ordered the detectives to arrest the pilot, James Richard Joyce, of the Cessna 310. The detectives arrested Joyce and then started out across the runways to the east side of the airfield to where detectives had seen the Cessna 310 stop when it first landed, and where the U-Haul trucks had congregated.
The temperature had dropped dramatically as a winter cold front had moved in. Detectives arrived where the big plane was sitting. There was no one around. The side cargo door was open and there was marijuana pods blowing around on the ground. Detectives alerted Birdsong as to what they found. All said and done, the OHP Troopers had arrested 9 people from 4 trucks and 2 cars. APD detectives had arrested the one person inside the airport.
The suspects were taken to Ardmore PD and were questioned by State and Federal Agents. Detective Willingham allowed phone calls to be made. One suspect had a local attorneys name. Unknown to Willingham. As the suspect talked to the attorney, it was apparent the attorney knew Willingham’s name. Birdsong questioned the pilot of the big plane, Wilson was his last name. Wilson described where the plane came from and how much marijuana he was hauling.
The day after the arrests, APD got a call from the Airpark. They found a man on Airpark property that was practically frozen. The temps had dropped down into the teens the night of the arrests. The man had frost bite on his hands and feet. He had lost his shoes in quick sand in the Washita River. The suspect worked his way toward lights until he couldn’t go any more. He fell into a ditch and that is where he was found. Detectives called an ambulance and he was taken to Ardmore Hospital. Part of one foot had to be removed because of the frost bite. Detectives went to the DA to file charges. The DA said that the man had suffered enough and refused to prosecute.
There were two trials. The first one was kind of a joke. Some of the defense attorneys crawled across the court room floor to retrieve some of the marijuana that was in bales in burlap bags. That trial ended in a hung jury.
The second trial did not go well. All said and done the El Paso 10 were acquitted. 8 1/2 tons of Marijuana, the largest haul by law enforcement at the time, got completely exonerated. It made Detective Willingham sick. And to top it all off was a big percentage of the jurors were partying with the defendants after the trial, they were wearing T-shirts that had freedom for the El Paso 10. There were two defendants that had Federal warrants for them and two US Marshals had those two defendants at the party.
There was a book written about the attorney’s from El Paso, the Chagra’s. They were the king pins of the drug smuggling trade out of El Paso. The title is Dirty Dealings and in the book the author called Ardmore the beginning of their end. One of the other Chagra brothers was convicted of drug smuggling. Another of the Chagra brothers hired a hit man to kill the Federal Judge overseeing the smuggling case. The Federal Judge was murdered and the hit man was found. The hit man was actor Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson.
It’s hard for me, David Willingham, to believe that jurors in Carter County turned the actors, of the worlds biggest drug smugglers, loose.
There was friction with the Sheriff’s Dept. because we didn’t notify them of what was going on. The same with the DAs office. The DA was out of town when this went down. We called on the Assistant DA for some search warrants. I tried to explain that this was an OBNDD operation and they had ask that we not tell anyone else. That only infuriated the DA when he was notified by his assistant.
The Sheriff was very upset that he wasn’t informed until after the arrests were made. There were four people at APD that knew what was going to take place. Bill Culley, Chief, George Elisee, Terry Dickson and me, David Willingham. Those animosities, toward APD, stayed in place for quite some time.
Some of the reasons for the hung jury and acquittal.
- The OBN personally had searched the C54 and found a camera. They had the film developed and there were several photos showing the Cessna 310 and the big plane flying together over the Antilles Islands and other incriminating photos. When they presented the photos as evidence, there were two sets of negatives in the package of the same photos. Defense started calling for a failed conspiracy.
- There were some conflicts in some agent’s testimony.
- The defense alleged that was no way I could see across the airfield, at night, with binoculars. Defense alleged I didn’t see the Cessna 310 land and taxi to the big plane.
- On one of the affidavits I attested to, was written by the Asst DA. He put down that I saw the trucks out by the big plane, loading a green leafy substance onto the trucks. My bad. I just signed it and moved on. Well the defense caught me on that and I had to admit that I really didn’t read the affidavit.
- There were other testimonies by OBN Agents that drew some questions from the defense, that I was not privy to.
Result hung jury.
Second trial went thru some of the same conspiracy theory from the defense.
- This time the defense had American Airline employees contradicting my and Dickson’s testimony. One of the main witnesses from American Airlines, I had arrested before and there was no love lost with that witness.
The final result was, the governments witnesses were not believed and the jury found the defendants not guilty. In other words the government smuggled 8 1/2 tons of marijuana into the country and conspired to get these poor defendants jailed. Although they were there close to midnight on Dec 31st. They were driving 4 U-Haul trucks in a convoy, two cars with known drug smugglers in them.
There were mistakes made and some by me, but to turn the biggest drug smugglers loose, is unconscionable. Flashy attorneys, driving cars with Texas tags, HEROIN 1 and HEROIN 2. Lee Chagra flying in to Ardmore in his Leer jet. Carrying a brief case with no less than $100,000 in it. Lee Chagra always had flashy women with him and huge gold chains around his neck and his shirt unbuttoned down to his naval. I guess money talks.
By David Willingham
Last week, Colonel Arnold Muncrief and I visited the American Flyers Memorial at the Ardmore Airpark. Over the past few years, the site has fallen into a sad state of disrepair. We hope to undertake some restoration work in time for the anniversary of the tragic plane crash on April 22.
Colonel Muncrief and his military group plan to lead the project and do what they can to restore it. Of the 98 people aboard the flight (92 passengers—mostly young Army recruits—and 6 crew members), 83 perished, making it Oklahoma’s deadliest air disaster.
Below is a link to the write-up in The Daily Oklahoman on the memorial’s dedication held June 17, 2000.
Memorial Dedication
While we were at the Ardmore Airpark, Colonel Muncrief and I enjoyed an excellent hamburger at Jake’s Joint. We also met a couple of young Air Force guys who stopped in for lunch. Below is a photo I took of their planes parked on the tarmac— I snapped the picture through the window at Jake’s Joint.
A couple weeks ago, a friend thought he’d located the old Dixon Street in Ardmore, but it turned out to be the wrong spot. Another friend eventually tracked down the real location in southeast Ardmore. I still remember riding down Dixon Street decades ago—back then, about the only thing noticeable along it was Oakland Park. I even took my Honda motorcycle out to Oakland Park in the late 1960s. That feels like a lifetime ago now! Next time I’m in that area, I’ll have to drive down Dixon Street again and refresh those old memories.
Hi Butch!
I was interested in the Oakland Park location and Dixon Street. Found a couple of things.
The following descriptions are in the 1957 Ardmore City Directory:
- Dixon SE is “From White SE south beyond Beard SE, Beard SE intersects.”
- Beard SE is “From 1 block west of Allen SE, east to P SE, Allen SE intersects, not open between 1/2 block east of Allen SE and Dixon SE, Dixon SE intersects, P SE intersects”
- Allen SE is “From 1100 White SE south two blocks, Beard SE intersects, not open beyond Beard SE.”
- White SE has the following streets intersecting it starting from G Southeast: Park Southeast intersects, I SE ends, K SE ends, Allen SE begins, Dixon SE begins, P SE intersects.
This all means that Beard SE only ran west to east and the streets connecting it to White SE had different names – Allen and Dixon Streets. Attached is a map. I don’t know why the road west of Allen SE isn’t named, maybe it was just an alleyway at that time. Either way, we know which road is Allen SE because the Beard SE description says it starts one block west of Allen SE.
Other clues that tell us Oakland must be in this neighborhood: In 1956 Oakland Park was described in the Ardmoreite as being in the City Park Addition and when you look up the legal description of the land in that area, it’s called the Park City Addition. In 1961 there was an article that mentioned Dixon SE was in the Nob Hill area of Ardmore and according to that 1957 directory on White St between K SE and Allen SE, we have Nob Hill Breakfast Club and Nob Hill Dance Hall.
The first mention of Oakland Park in the Ardmoreite was in June 1930.
Another interesting note is that the original enrollee who was allotted that land was named Mary J. Beard.
I’ve always wondered what that open space was and why it was oval shaped. -Kati
HAM Radio Talk By Butch Bridges KC5JVT
Allstar node # 58735 – Echolink # 101960 – HamsOverIP # 103010
The Arbuckle 97 Net has a new website as of last week, thanks to Cutter KG7DZV of Elmore City. The link is https/aarug.net and is free and open to any licensed HAM radio operator.
For several years I been posting the picture of the Boredom Breaker Net banner that’s held everyday from Noon to 2pm central time. Through a HAM friend in South Carolina we found out the Echolink node link was wrong. The node number to reach the Boredom Break Net using Echolink is 657006. I have made a correction in the banner below.
From This Weeks Mailbag
“Butch, I have been permanently banned from Facebook. Tell my relatives and friends the best way to contact me is through my Gmail address. Thanks.”
-Ralph Leon Ford Bridges
ralphlford1212@gmail.com
“I got a request to restore Bill’s old photo with AI, and honestly, I’m blown away by how great the outcome is!”
“Today’s technology is AWESOME!!! From a terrible image of the 1800’s to a staggering clean up and colorization, (Thank you Butch Bridges) for such an amazing job for our family. These are the parents of my grandmother, Elizabeth Moorhead, Mr and Mrs Frank Henry, Topeka, KS. Just awesome!” -Bill Garrison
I mentioned a few weeks ago how the visitors to my website had increased dramatically and I didn’t know if I was doing something wrong or doing something right. But the number of visitors each week just keep increasing.
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” -Carl Bard (1886-1953)
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net