John Bell was Deputy Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under John C. Lawn during the late 1980s. In 1988, following the Chiapas airfield ambush, he recalled the remnants of Walt Breslin's Operation Leyenda task force, and he punished Breslin for his perceived failures by reassigning him to Sacramento, California. He also refused to follow through with the DEA's promises to the families of his late teammates.