Netflix series "Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami" follows the story of infamous '80s
drug kingpins Salvador "Sal" Magluta and Augusto "Willy" Falcon. But while the show gives a
good overview of their rise to power, it doesn't tell you everything. Here's what "Cocaine
Cowboys" didn't tell you.
Magluta and Falcon did not just become big in the cocaine world overnight. They had an
orchestrated plan to bring drugs into Miami. As well-known powerboat speed racers, what
better way to smuggle drugs in super-fast boats? The duo used speedboats to transport
Colombian cocaine from the Bahamas to Florida. According to the New Miami Times, they disguised
their real "jobs" with the boating hobby, and they even had boat-racing titles to prove
it.
Falcon had a Cougar speedboat, and Magluta had a Seahawk. After getting indicted, all
of their possessions, including their boats, were seized and became federal property. Most
models of '80s-era powerboats are no longer manufactured, but one of the boats used to
transport drugs turned up several years ago. Per Serious Offshore, one of their 26-foot
power boats went up for sale on Craigslist for a mere $2,500. Another one apparently
was up for sale for $25,000 a few years ago. It's unclear just how many boats they owned
in total, but the pair definitely had a lot in order to bring in tons of cocaine that
turned them into millionaires. It's also safe to say that most of their watercraft have
all either been sold to avid boat racers or antique collectors, since neither will ever
recover their beloved boats.
In 1991, dozens of smugglers and their associates were also arrested in the takedown of Magluta
and Falcon's empire. Shortly after, officials had indictments for the pair. After their
arrests and charges, many witnesses testified against Los Muchachos, including a former
girlfriend and childhood sweetheart of Magluta's — Marilyn Bonachea. She is interviewed throughout
the docuseries and is noted as an exemplary witness in a criminal trial. It was her testimony
that helped link Magluta to murders and indict other members of his drug organization. During
the height of Magluta and Falcon's reign as smugglers, Bonachea attended the University
of Miami and later worked as a teacher in Miami public schools. But that all stopped
in 1991.
She supposedly maintained a vested interest in managing and laundering money for Magluta's
finances. She had possession of the ledger, which was proof of his dealings. Bonachea
did this up until 1996 when she was stopped by authorities and the ledger was seized.
This later forced her to go into hiding, and she fled to New York while Magluta continued
to financially support her. However, officials caught up with her in 1998. That was the end
of the road for Bonachea, and she decided to work with authorities. This is how Bonachea
ended up testifying against Magluta and Falcon as well as others.
After leaving the witness protection program in 2003, Bonachea says in the documentary
that she lost most of her friends and family. Today, she lives in Vero Beach, Florida, and
works as a consultant, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Both Magluta and Falcon were born in Cuba. Like many Cuban immigrants in the U.S. since
the late '50s, many of them have settled in the nearby state of Florida — particularly
in Miami. Today, they make up one of the largest foreign born population groups in the city
and state, per Pew Research.
After serving his 20-year prison sentence, Falcon was released in 2017, but he was not
able to go back to the glamorous lifestyle he once lived. Subsequently, Falcon had to
be deported and was going to his native country of Cuba. Only, he had too many enemies there.
Falcon was not only a drug trafficker, but he was also supposedly funding a hit squad
and working with the CIA to eliminate Cuba's defiant and long-running former leader, Fidel
Castro. To save his life, his lawyers challenged his deportation order, and Falcon was given
the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic as an alternative, per WBUR. Less than two
hours away by plane from Cuba, the Dominican Republic agreed to accept him, and he was
released there in 2018. But criticism from locals likely led to him disappearing not
long after arriving.
Currently, no one knows where Falcon is or if he still remains in the Dominican Republic.
His three children — Aileen, Jessica, and William — are adults now, and it is not
clear if Falcon has ever reconnected with them or where they live. After his conviction,
no one knows where the children were placed and what relatives they had.
"Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami" was in the works for years. In fact, it's actually
a more detailed follow-up to director Billy Corben's previous 2006 documentary about Los
Muchachos and other kingpins, simply titled "Cocaine Cowboys." The two-hour film mostly
explored several key figures that played a role in the rise of cocaine coming into Miami,
not solely Magluta and Falcon.
"This was the pinnacle of drug dealing in Miami. I think the Falcon and Magluta case
represented the end of that era."
The doc was released just a few years after both men were sentenced. Shortly after they
were preparing to do their time in prison, their former associates — most who had been
captured and been in custody since the first arrests were made in 1991 — were on their
way out.
Corben told Oxygen that as a result of these releases, a few ex-cons involved were contacting
him, and then he, too, connected with others to begin working on his Netflix docu-series.
As a result, word eventually got to Magluta in prison. It was a jackpot for Corben, whose
goal was to one day tell the story of Magluta and Falcon. Magluta's willingness to share
earned Corben access to something very valuable for the project. Corben told Oxygen,
"Sal basically opened up his parents' home to me ... and I had access to Sal's personal
archives,"
While there have been no big screen Hollywood films, their story inspired the TV show "Miami
Vice" as well as the film "Scarface."
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