Cocaine Cowboys Review - About.com

Cocaine Cowboys - Miami's legacy of cocaine smuggling cowboy gangsters

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In the 1970s the sleepy retirement community of South Florida became one of the most dangerous places on Earth as billions in cocaine money made small time crooks ultra-rich and fueled a real-estate and construction boom that shaped the Miami of today.

When filmmaker Billy Corben met Jon Pernell Roberts he knew he had the subject of his second documentary feature. Roberts came to Miami from New York in the early 1970s with barely enough cash to rent an apartment. Within a few years he became a major trafficker for Colombia's Medellin Cartel earning upwards of $1 million per flight.

Jorge "Rivi" Ayala came to Miami after establishing himself as a notorious car thief in Chicago. After being offered $1000 to drive a drug trafficker's car to Miami he quickly rose to become the bodyguard and personal assassin of Colombian cocaine queen Griselda Blanco. From behind bars he tells of a twisted culture that crafted itself in the image of The Godfather movies while accumulating wealth the Italian mafia could only dream of.

Corben's interviews with Roberts and Ayala anchor the documentary, accompanied by archival news footage and still photographs (sometimes animated in the unfortunate 3D style that has become increasingly common). Interviews with other criminals, journalists, and cops provide additional insight on the dark decade in Miami that was far bloodier than the prohibition-era gang wars on the streets of Chicago.

More astonishing even than the criminal events are the wider impacts on South Florida. So much cash was flowing through area banks that the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve that its surplus was greater than all other US branches combined. New banks, luxury car dealerships, gourmet restaurants, and exclusive nightclubs sprang up overnight. Real estate prices skyrocketed as laundered money was used to scoop up properties and fund new construction downtown and in the suburbs – even while the rest of the country suffered from a severe recession.

When the Federal government finally realized the extent of the problem and cracked down in the mid-1980s, nightclubs, banks, and hotels were abandoned almost overnight. The recent resurgence of Miami is entirely built on a foundation of cocaine, according to Corben.

Fast-paced and surprising, Cocaine Cowboys suggests that South Florida's cocaine era is part of a long history of American lawlessness with references to the gangsters of the 1930s and the outlaws of the Wild West. It is remarkable that this more recent period of violence is largely forgotten (aside from Scarface and Miami Vice) while legends of gangsters and cowboy outlaws continue to be glamorized and marketed for children's consumption.

'Cocaine Cowboys' is directed by Billy Corben, featuring Jon Pernell Roberts, Mickey Munday, and Jorge "Rivi" Ayala. Rated R for drug content, gruesome violent images, and language