Operation Mongoose 1962

When the CIA air-dropped infected ticks on Cuban sugarcane workers.

Kris Newby

Jan 21, 2025

A tall, flat-topped, big-eared Texan in his mid-twenties started nodding off as he sat against the hull of a Fairchild C-123, a two-engine, propeller-driven transport aircraft. The ragtag crew was flying at night, almost skimming the surface of the Caribbean to avoid Cuban radar. This CIA-military project was headed up by Brigadier General Lansdale and the crew was “sheep dipped,” given false identities that couldn’t be traced back to the U.S. government. The Texan was the new guy, recruited by the CIA right out of college because of his aptitude in learning new languages. He was promised adventure.

The copilot leaned out of the dimly-lit cockpit and told the Texan, “We’re getting close.” Both pilots were dressed in uniforms adorned with a winged, red-white-and-blue Air America shield — the emblem of the sham airline run by the CIA for covert operations.

He moved two unmarked cardboard boxes up near the cabin door to the left of the cockpit. He didn’t know what was inside, only that he was supposed to dump its contents when the pilots told him to.

“It’s time,” said the pilot.

The door opened with a blast of air, and he saw lush vegetation below. He ripped open the first box and yelled: “What the f*ck!” It was crawling with thousands of ticks. In haste, he dumped out the contents of both, threw out the boxes, and slammed the door.

The Texan returned to his wife and firstborn, a four-month-old son, shortly after the tick drop and a ground-based mission in Cuba. A few days later, his son came down with a mild fever. The parents erred on the side of caution and took him to the pediatrician, who said it was probably the flu, and told them to give the infant aspirin and plenty of fluids.

But his son’s fever kept rising, and when it hit 105°F, they couldn’t wake the baby. So, they rushed to a hospital emergency room and handed their limp-rag-doll infant to a triage nurse. When the child stopped breathing, the medical team performed an emergency tracheotomy, puncturing a hole in the front of his neck and snaking a breathing tube down his windpipe.

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