Mitchell Werbell III

Mitchell Livingston WerBell III, (b. 1918, d. 1983), was a noted OSS and CIA operative, mercenary, firearms engineer and arms dealer.

Synopsis

Werbell was born in Philadelphia the son of a Czarist cavalry officer in the Imperial Army of Russia. During the Second World War he served in the China-Burma theater as a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Project Nassau

In 1966 he helped plan an invasion of Haiti by Cuban and Haitian exiles against "Papa Doc" François Duvalier called Project Nassau (but internall referred to as Operation Istanbul). The mission, which (according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the House Commerce Committee) was financially subsidized, and to be filmed by CBS news, was aborted when the participants were arrested by the FBI. Werbell was released without being charged. [Ronald L. Ecker, [http://four.fsphost.com/crevmore/acreourm.htm Our Man in Powder Springs: A Look at Mitch WerBell and the JFK Assassination] ]

Abaco Islands

In 1972 Werbell was approached by the Abaco Independence Movement (AIM) from the Abaco Islands a region of the Bahamas who were worried about the direction the Bahamas were taking and were considering independence or to remain a separate Commonwealth nation under the Crown in case of the Bahamas gaining independence (which they did in 1973). The AIM collpased into internal bickering before a coup by Werbell could be carried out. [Naylor, Robin T "Wages of Crime:Black Markets, Illegal Finance and the Underworld Economy Cornell University Press (2002)]

Business activities

In the 1960's Werbell incorporated SIONICS to design silencers for the M-16 rifle. The name was an acronym for "Studies In the Operational Negation of Insurgents and Counter-Subversion". This name was later adopted for a military training school that he operated. Through SIONICS he developed a low cost, efficient silencer for machine guns.

In 1967 he partnered with Gordon B. Ingram inventor of the MAC-10 sub machine gun. They added Werbell's silencer to Ingram's machinegun and attempted to market it to the U.S. military as "Whispering Death" for use in the Vietnam war.

To obtain capital for manufacturing, Werbell obtained 29 investors of 7 million dollars each into a holding company called Quantum Ordnance Bankers. They created a manufacturing corpation called Military Arms (MAC), and merged it with Quantum and SIONICS. The efforts to sell to the military failed and Werbell lost control of the company.

He was later indicted for attempting to sell the guns to Robert Vesco as well as an undercover agent but the charges were dropped.

Other exploits

Other exploits of Mitch WerBell's include an alleged, but unsubstantiated presence at Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, spearheading the 1965 Invasion of the Dominican Republic, being tried and acquitted on charges of conspiracy to marijuana smuggling, [ [http://www.edmarger.com/articles/werbelldraftingdefense.htm The Law Offices of Edwin Marger - Drug Trial ] ] reportedly in association with Gerry Patrick Hemming, and at the acquiescence of Lucien Conein; and providing physical security services for Lyndon Larouche.

References

External links

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwerbell.htm Spartacus Biography - Mitchel Werbell]
* [http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2pnassau.html Cuban Exiles - Project Nassau documents]
* [http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_091/TECH_V091_S0103_P006.pdf Related newpaper article from MIT archives: Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the House Commerce Committee]