It sounds like a bad movie plot from the eighties. A bunch of Neo-Nazis, a KKK leader, and a group of mercenaries pile onto a boat in Louisiana, planning to sail to a Caribbean island, overthrow the government, and turn the place into a private playground for offshore banking and white supremacy. It’s wild. But in 1981, Operation Red Dog was very real, and it came dangerously close to launching.
History buffs usually call it the "Bayou of Pigs." Honestly, that’s a pretty accurate name. It has all the hallmarks of the 1961 CIA-backed disaster, just with more camo-clad racists and way less competence.
The target was Dominica. Not the Dominican Republic—Dominica. It’s a small, rugged, mountainous island in the Lesser Antilles. At the time, it was a young nation, having only gained independence from Britain in 1978. It was vulnerable. And to a group of far-right extremists looking for a "white state" or at least a tax haven where they could do whatever they wanted, it looked like the perfect prize.
The Motley Crew Behind the Coup
You can’t talk about Operation Red Dog without talking about Mike Perdue. He was the mastermind, if you can call him that. Perdue was a Houston-based mercenary who somehow convinced Don Black—the Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan—that they could actually pull this off.
Black wasn't just some figurehead; he was looking to expand the Klan's influence. He saw Dominica as a potential base of operations. Joining them was Wolfgang Droege, a notorious white nationalist from Canada. It was a bizarre, international coalition of hate. They weren't just doing this for ideology, though. There was a lot of money on the table. Or at least, they thought there was.
They teamed up with Patrick John. He was the former Prime Minister of Dominica who had been ousted in 1979 after some pretty massive protests. John wanted his power back. He promised the mercenaries that if they reinstated him, he’d give them exclusive rights to set up businesses, hotels, and, most importantly, a "free port" where they could run whatever schemes they liked.
It’s kinda crazy how disorganized they were. They spent months training in the woods, buying weapons, and trying to find a boat. They eventually settled on a small charter boat called the Manana. The plan was to depart from New Orleans, sail to Dominica, meet up with John’s loyalists in the Dominica Defence Force, and take the capital, Roseau, by force.
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The Federal Sting
The thing is, when you’re a bunch of Neo-Nazis trying to buy automatic weapons and hire boat captains in New Orleans, people notice. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) was on them almost immediately.
The "captain" they hired for the Manana? He was an undercover agent.
The feds basically watched the whole thing unfold. They let the group gather their gear, move their weapons, and arrive at the docks. On April 27, 1981, just as the group was preparing to board the boat with a small mountain of rifles, handguns, and dynamite, the ATF and FBI pounced.
It wasn't a shootout. It was a bust. Ten men were arrested on the spot.
Why Dominica Was the Target
You might wonder why these guys picked a tiny island in the Caribbean instead of anywhere else. The answer lies in the geopolitical mess of the early eighties. Dominica was struggling. Prime Minister Mary Eugenia Charles—the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean"—had her hands full trying to stabilize the economy and keep the peace.
Patrick John, the man they were trying to put back in power, had left the country in a state of near-collapse. He was desperate. And desperate people make deals with the devil. In this case, the devil wore a pointed hood or a swastika armband.
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The mercenaries figured the Dominican police force was too small to fight back. They thought that with a few dozen guys and some heavy firepower, they could hold the island until they could solidify their "business interests." They even had fake documents ready to go to "legalize" their takeover once the smoke cleared.
The Fallout and the Trials
The trial was a media circus. It exposed the weird underbelly of the American far-right and how it intersected with the world of "soldiers of fortune." Most of the conspirators were convicted under the Neutrality Act, a law that basically says U.S. citizens can't go off and start private wars against countries that are at peace with the United States.
Don Black got three years in prison. He used that time to learn about computers, which eventually led him to create Stormfront, one of the first and largest white nationalist websites. It’s a chilling reminder that these events have long-term consequences.
Patrick John didn't escape either. He was eventually arrested in Dominica, tried, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy. The whole ordeal left Dominica shaken but more resilient. Prime Minister Charles used the incident to argue for a regional security system, which eventually led to the creation of the Regional Security System (RSS) that exists in the Eastern Caribbean today.
What Most People Get Wrong About Operation Red Dog
There’s a common misconception that this was a sophisticated CIA operation gone wrong. It wasn't. While the CIA has certainly been involved in plenty of Caribbean meddling, Operation Red Dog was purely a "private" venture. It was a group of extremists and criminals acting on their own greed and prejudice.
Another mistake is thinking this was just a "racist" thing. While the KKK involvement is the headline, the primary driver for many involved was cold, hard cash. They wanted a lawless zone where they could run gambling, drug smuggling, and money laundering operations without any interference from the U.S. or international authorities.
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The incompetence of the group is often played for laughs—and honestly, it is kinda funny that they hired a federal agent as their captain—but the threat was serious. If they had actually made it to the island, people would have died. The Dominica Defence Force was divided, and a surprise night attack could have been devastating for the civilian population.
Key Players and Their Fates
- Don Black: Served time, then founded Stormfront. He remains a prominent figure in white nationalist circles.
- Mike Perdue: The organizer who flipped and became a witness for the prosecution.
- Patrick John: After prison, he actually tried to get back into politics and football administration in Dominica. He passed away in 2021.
- Mary Eugenia Charles: She became a hero for her handling of the crisis and later played a key role in the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
The Legacy of the Bayou of Pigs
Operation Red Dog serves as a bizarre footnote in Cold War history, but it’s an important one. It shows how fragile small nations can be and how far extremist groups are willing to go to establish their own versions of utopia.
It also highlights the importance of the Neutrality Act. We don't hear about it much anymore, but it's a vital tool for preventing private citizens from dragging the country into international conflicts.
If you're ever in Dominica, you won't find many monuments to this event. People there would rather remember their resilience and their natural beauty than a failed invasion by a bunch of out-of-towners. But the story persists in the archives of the FBI and in the memories of those who lived through the tension of 1981.
How to Learn More
If you want to dig deeper into the actual documents, the FBI has released a significant portion of their files on the investigation under the Freedom of Information Act. You can find them in the FBI Vault. There are also several books that cover the era of Caribbean "mercenaryism," though many are out of print.
Look for contemporary news reports from the New Orleans Times-Picayune or the Associated Press from April and May of 1981. They provide a raw, day-by-day account of the arrests and the subsequent legal battles that "Operation Red Dog" sparked.
Actionable Insights for History and Security Enthusiasts:
- Study the Neutrality Act: Understanding the legal boundaries of private military actions helps clarify why this was a federal crime rather than just a "foreign policy" blunder.
- Examine Caribbean Sovereignty: Use this case study to understand the unique security challenges faced by microstates during the post-colonial era.
- Monitor Extremist Evolution: Track how figures like Don Black pivoted from physical coups to digital radicalization, showing the shift in "mercenary" tactics over forty years.
- Verify Source Materials: When researching, distinguish between tabloid sensationalism and actual court transcripts from the Eastern District of Louisiana, where the conspirators were tried.
The story of Operation Red Dog is a reminder that truth is often weirder than fiction. It wasn't just a "bayou of pigs"—it was a wake-up call for an entire region.