If you’ve seen the Cocaine Cowboys documentary, you know the whole thing centers on the Miami cocaine trade. One of the story’s key players, as well as its last, Gustavo Valcon, was captured and arrested yesterday in Kissimee, Fl after 26 years on the run.
BREAKING: Cocaine Cowboy Caught – Gustavo Falcon was arrested by US Marshals from Orlando and Miami in joint operation @CBSMiami
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) April 13, 2017
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So Valcon, who allegedly had a hand in smuggling 75 tons of cocaine into the country in the ’80s and, along with his partner, parlayed that into some $2.1 billion, was hiding out with his wife and kids just 212 miles northeast of his old stomping grounds.
Questions abound. Primarily, how in the world is this even possible? Valcon, 55, reportedly used fake ID’s to move about and evade capture since 1991. For one, U.S. Marshals spokesman Barry Golden says investigators, like everyone else, thought he was long gone.
“Nobody thought Gustavo Falcon was still in the United States,” Golden said.
Valcon was apparently also very in tune with his situation, trading in the flashy lifestyle he once cherised made up of expensive cars and seaside mansions for a much more mundane existence. He rented your tyical modest South Florida stucco home and neighbors said the late model pickup truck in his driveway never moved.
At a hearing Thursday, Falcon was sent to South Florida to face charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S. and was ordered to be held without bond.