Frederick "Rik" Luytjes

Frederick "Rik" Luytjes was a businessman from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who gained notoriety in the early 1980s as a highly successful cocaine smuggler. He was the head of an aircraft company he named Air America, a name that led many to believe his outfit was affiliated with the government due to its resemblance to the CIA's Vietnam-era front.

Cocaine Smuggling Operations

From 1980 to 1984, pilots for his company, Air America, flew an estimated $2 billion worth of cocaine from Colombia to the U.S., earning Luytjes an estimated $40 million. His company, based out of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport, used stripped-down planes to transport large quantities of cocaine (e.g., 1,300 pounds per trip).

He revolutionized drug smuggling into the U.S. by using planes capable of longer ranges, allowing them to fly directly to northern states like New York or Pennsylvania, rather than just to the southern borders. He was known for his professionalism and the quality of his planes, boasting that his pilots could guarantee arrival times within three minutes, "not even Federal Express" could do that.

He laundered much of his profits through legitimate businesses. In 1986, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges and agreed to cooperate with the government in prosecuting other drug suspects. He forfeited approximately $8 million in drug-related assets, including Air America and an estate in the Pocono Mountains. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a reduced sentence due to his cooperation.

Ties to Intelligence Networks and Covert Activities

Luytjes's decision to name his company "Air America" was suspected by investigators to be an attempt "to create an impression he was connected with the Central Intelligence Agency." He openly claimed to his South American business partners that he was working as a CIA informant, which they reportedly believed would provide some cover for their operations.

As part of his defense, Luytjes maintained he was an informant for both the DEA and the CIA. He claimed that in one mission, he had unsuccessfully attempted to fly a general and gold out of Nicaragua. A DEA agent and a law enforcement official were called by Luytjes to try and confirm that he had assisted their agencies in investigations.

Even after his arrest, Luytjes reportedly claimed he was on a "high government mission" and wasn't truly a drug smuggler. He sold a C-123 aircraft that, upon being shot down over Nicaragua, marked the beginning of what became known as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Another convicted drug pilot, Gary Betzner, admitted encountering Barry Seal (a military pilot turned drug smuggler turned informant) at an "Air America facility in Pennsylvania." One source states that Luytjes, "according to his own admission, was a CIA operative, and the funds were used to sponsor black operations in South and Central America." However, it's noted that whether he was genuinely involved with the CIA or not "will probably never be truly settled."

In summary, Frederick "Rik" Luytjes was a major drug trafficker who leveraged an aircraft company to facilitate his operations. He also had alleged ties to the CIA and DEA, claiming to be an informant and even an operative, and his company's name and some of his activities intersected with known intelligence-related events like Iran-Contra.