BATON ROUGE – The original story of Barry Seal returns in an unprecedented presentation by WBRZ.

In Uncle Sam Wants You, WBRZ was first to tell the the original story about Seal, a Baton Rouge native working undercover for the CIA and also world drug leaders. The show originally aired on WBRZ in the 1980s as part of the station's watchdog investigative series now known as the WBRZ Investigative Unit.

The WBRZ report was the precursor to the new Tom Cruise movie American Made.  Cruise stars as Seal in the movie that follows the informant's life.

Seal was assassinated at a halfway house in 1986 off Airline Highway after agreeing to testify at a trial related to the smuggling operation.

An additional presentation featured a second hour, focusing on Seal's murder. In 1986, WBRZ presented The Murder of a Witness, which examined Seal's assassination.

Both shows are centered around the award-winning work of famed WBRZ investigative reporter John Camp. Camp is now retired and lives in St. Francisville.

Miguel Velez, Luis Carlos Quintero-Cruz and Bernardo Antonio Vasquez were convicted for killing Seal. Velez died at Angola in 2015.

American Made continues at area theaters.  

CLICK HERE to watch the two documentaries on demand. 

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