U S Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of the Director Wa thington D C 20535 Date December 9 1981 To Administrator Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue SW ·washington D c 20591 Fro ' William H Webster Director Subject GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOL ALVIN ROSS DIAZ VIRGILIO PABLO PAZ ROMERO JOSE DIONISIO SUAREZ ESQUIVEL IGNACIO ROBERTO NOVO SAMPOL MICHAEL VERNON TOWNLEY JUAN MANUEL CONTRERAS SEPULVEDA ARMANDO FERNANDEZ LARIOS PEDRO ESPINOSA BRAVO VICTIMS ORLANDO LETELIER RONNI KARPEN MOFFITTi PROTECTION OF FOREIGN OFFICIALS - MURDER EXPLOSIVES AND INCENDIARY DEVICES CONSPIRACY OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE PERJURY Enclosed for each recipient are two copies of a self-explanatory memorandum which contains information concerning the manufacture and projected utilization of nerve gas by components of the Chilean Government The enclosed memorandum discloses that the nerve gas which had been manufactured by DINA the Chilean Intellig nce Service was transported to the United States during September 1976 by DINA agent Michael Vernon Townley in connection with the assassination of Orlando Letelier The nerve gas was not used in the Letelier assassination and according to Townley it was returned to Chile l - Managing Director Civil Aeronautics Board - Enclosure l - Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American ·Affairs - Enclosure 1 - Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division - Enclosure 1 - Director of Central Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency - Enclosure 1 - Director Defense Intelligence Agency - Enclosure 1 - Director u s Secret Service - En losure 1 - Honorable Charles Ruff u s Attorney Washington D C Attention Mr E Lawrence Barcella Major Crimes Unit - Enclosure FBI DC U S Department of Jusdce Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of the Director Washington D C 20535 December 9 1981 GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOL ALVIN ROSS DIAZ VIRGILIO PABLO PAZ ROMERO JOSE DIONISIO SUAREZ ESQUIVEL IGNACIO ROBERTO NOVO SAMPOL MICHAEL VERNON TOWNLEY JUAN MANUEL CONTRERAS SEPULVEDA ARMANDO FERNANDEZ LARIOS PEDRO ESPINOSA BRAVO VICTIMS - ORLANDO LETELIER RONNI KARPEN MOFFITT · PROTECTION OF FOREIGN OFFICIALS - MURDER EXPLOSIVES AND INCENDIARY DEVICES CONSPIRACY OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE PERJURY Eugene M Propper the former Chief United States Prosecutor in the Letelier assassination and author Taylor Branch are collaborating in writing a book detailing the United States investigation of captioned matter which book is· to be published in early 1982 In connection with extensive research to develop material for their book Propper and Branch interviewed numerous individuals connected with captioned matter including former officials of DINA the Chilean Intelligence Service They traveled extensively and Branch visited several foreign countries including Chile Propper and Branch advised that they secured a number of This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency 1'111 00J GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOL ET AL letters which were sent from the United States by self-admitted DINA agent Michael Vernon Townley to his DINA cut-out Gustavo Etchepare in Chile According to Propper and Branch Townley made references in several of his letters to a highly secret DINA undertaking known as Project Andrea Propper and Branch advised that in his letters Townley expressed concern that the United States Government would ascertain details of Project Andrea which would be highly embarrassing to the Chilean Government Propper and Branch indicated that Townley also expressed apprehension that the United States Government would be able to determine details related to Project Andrea through the GallenKamp Company in London England and through ·companies in Miami Florida that sold a microwave oven to Townley and rented a number of gas storage cylinders to Townley Propper and Branch also indicated that Townley in his letters expressed concern that the United States Government would be able to ascertain details concerning Project Andrea through an individual in Miami Florida identified as Sam Mcintoch who sold Townley unidentified electronic components bearing the brand name 11 Sierra Propper and Branch reported that Townley's father J Vernon Townley also assisted his son and Etchepare in liquidating outstan ing bills in the respective amounts of 350 pounds sterling $525 00 $160 00 and $325 00 to the GallenKamp Company the company which sold the microwave oven to Townley and the company which rented the gas storage cylinders to Townley and to Sam Mcintoch Propper and Branch noted that Townley also expressed concern in his letters that the Federal Bureau of Investigation would trace payments to the aforementioned companies and Mclntoch through a checking account in the name of Prosin Limited at the Southeast First National Bank Miami Florida which Townley utilized in connection with his official DINA responsibilities According to Propper and Branch Project Andrea involved the manufacture of nerve gas by DINA which was to be utilized against Argentina and Peru in the event of hostilities between these countries and Chile Propper and Branch advised that Townley acting as a DINA agent manufactured and storea a quantity of nerve gas at a laboratory located at Townley's residence in Santiago Chile during 197 and 1976 and utilized chemicals purchased through the GallenKamp Company the microwave oven and the rented gas cylinders in the process Propper and Branch advised that Townley created a substance known as isopropylrnethylphosophonofluoridate a clear liquid organophosphate commonly known -2- GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOL ET AL as sarin which vaporizes on being exposed to the atmosphere producing droplets that enter the body through the skin or lungs to interdict the neurochemistry that permits the respiratory muscles to function Propper and Branch advised that Eugenio Berrios a chemical engineer who was known by his DINA code name Hermes worked with Townley and also was involved in a parallel project on behalf of the Chilean Army for the manufacture of the same nerve gas Propper and Branch advised that when Townley traveled to the United States in September 1976 via LAN-Chile on his mission to assassinate Orlando Letelier he carried a quantity of the nerve gas with him on board the aircraft in his shirt pocket in a Chanel No 5 perfume atomizer Propper and Branch advised that Townley was considering the utilization of this nerve gas to assassinate Letelier but decided against using this method Propper and Branch advised that according to Townley Guillermo Novo Sampol and Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero leaders of the Cuban Nationalist Movement an anti-Castro terrorist organization who assisted Townley in the planning and execution of the assassination of Orlando Letelier were aware of Townley's possession of the nerve gas in the United States and also had witnessed the preparation of the nerve gas at Townley's laboratory at his residence in Santiago Chile during the period April 1976 th ough June 1976 when both Novo and Paz visited Townley in Chile According to Propper and Branch the following LAN-Chile personnel assisted Townley and PINA in transporting materials between Chile and the United States Ronnie Berger Alejandro Fornes Eugenio Herrera Guillermo Neira Bernardo Lacasia Ronnie Lowery Pocho Acevedo Jorge Nordenflycht Subsequent to the receipt of the above information from Propper and Branch arrangements were made to have Townley brought to Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters from the place of his incarceration in a Federal penitentiary where he was interviewed by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Townley confirmed Propper's and Branch's information regarding the manufacture and intended use of the nerve gas by the Chilean Government Townley however denied that he personally carried the nerve gas with him from Chile to the United States on a LAN-Chile aircraft Townley claimed to have had the nerve gas sent from Chile to the United States through LAN-Chile flight personnel who were unaware that they were transporting nerve gas Townley did confirm that the nerve gas was transported -3- GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOL ET AL to the United States by LAN-Chile flight personnel in a Chanel No 5 perfume atomizer Townley advised that Novo and Paz requested that the Cuban Nationalist Movement be furnished a supply of nerve gas to utilize in their terrorist activities1 however Townley claimed that because of the unstable nature of Novo and Paz and other members of the Cuban Nationalist Movement he refused their request Townley advised that he insured that the nerve gas transported to the United States by LAN-Chile flight personnel was returned to Chile to the custody of DINA by the same method -4-