What happened when Navy SEAL Mike Hayes was held at gunpoint in Peru?

Mike Hayes said that in 1996, on his first SEAL Team 4 deployment, he and a teammate named Ken were boxed in on a Lima street by armed men dressed as police, struck with a rifle and driven around for about an hour under threats of torture and execution. Hayes, a fluent Spanish speaker, claimed they were embassy economists and, while pretending to translate, passed Ken the embassy switchboard number and rally points. He skipped a chance to jump out because he would not leave Ken, and the men eventually let them go and stole the SUV.

• Hayes believes an embassy rule against carrying weapons, which the SEALs disliked at the time, probably saved their lives.
• Hayes says the experience taught him early that he would not abandon his swim buddy.

▸In their words

“Honestly, if we were armed, I'd be, wouldn't be here.” Mike Hayes · at 24:08 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-10-22). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode