Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal, alias Ellis McPickle, was an American pilot who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before smuggling drugs from Colombia into America for the Medellín Cartel.
Seal decided to work for the Medellín Cartel as a drug smuggler, transporting numerous shipments to the United States and making $500,000 each flight. Seal had a history with the Central Intelligence Agency, supposedly doing some work for them. However, his lifestyle of drugs and sex led to him working for criminals to make some money, and he used the nickname "Ellis McPickle" to collect payments from the cartel. In 1984, a CIA agent in Colombia recognized his picture when DEA agent Steve Murphy asked about "Ellis McPickle", giving Murphy his name.
Seal was accosted by Murphy and Javier Pena as he left his favorite brothel, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison in a Florida court. He decided to approach the DEA and act as an informant, and he helped the CIA with a sting operation in Nicaragua. However, Seal's life was endangered when Colonel Oliver North used photos provided by Seal that showed a link between the communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua with the narcotics trade, as Seal had taken pictures showing Federico Vaughan and Pablo Escobar loading cocaine onto an airplane. Seal's cover was blown, and he unwisely chose not to have government protection.
On 19th of February 1986, he was gunned down by Medellín Cartel sicarios on a motorcycle in a Baton Rouge parking lot, meeting his end.