‘Cocaine Cowboy’ Caught After 26 Years On The Run, Previously Smuggled 75 Tons Of Blow

This is one of those stories that makes you question how well you really know your neighbors. One of Miami’s most notorious drug smugglers and the last of the infamous ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ has been caught after being on the run for 26 years. Gustavo Valcon was picked up after returning home from a bicycle ride with his wife, which explains the goofy ass shirt in his mugshot. He was the last of the ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ on the run, the men at the center of Billy Corben‘s 2006 documentary.

This man was once responsible for smuggling 75 TONS of cocaine into America. 1 ton = 907 kilos. That’s an unimaginable amount of cocaine. Throughout his smuggling days, Falcon and his partner acquired an estimated $2.1 BILLION in cash and assets. Yet this dude was somehow able to live quietly with his wife and kids in South Florida, hiding in plain sight while using fake ID’s.

Gustavo Falcon had evaded authorities for over a quarter of a century before being apprehended yesterday outside of Kissimmee, Florida. Over the years, rumors had placed him in Cuba, but a joint U.S. Marshals operation between the Orlando and Miami offices:

CNN’s Keith Allen reports:

Authorities were initially led to Gustavo Falcon’s whereabouts in March after discovering he had been using a fraudulent Florida driver’s license under an alias since 1997, US Marshals Senior Inspector Barry Golden told CNN.
Through the license, law enforcement officials discovered Gustavo, also known as “Tabby,” had been living in the Orlando area since 1999, and they traced him to a rental property in suburban Kissimmee. A team comprising local law enforcement and officials from the US Marshals Miami and Orlando offices, along with its Fugitive Task Force, had the property under surveillance for more than a month.
“He was the last of the Cocaine Cowboys,” Golden said late Wednesday night.
Golden told CNN that officials seized on an opportunity when they saw who they believed to be Falcon and his wife leave for a lengthy bike ride Wednesday afternoon. Marshals observed the couple ride for approximately 40 miles and when they were certain of the fugitive’s identity, they apprehended Falcon at an intersection near his home.
“We caught a break today,” Golden said. “It was a lot of hard work, and some luck, and it paid off.” (via CNN)

I simply cannot fathom how this man was on the run for 26 years and living in plain sight. He was able to hide out in suburbia and live life like he wasn’t responsible for $2.1 billion in assets and 75 tons of cocaine smuggled into Florida. I just can’t wrap my mind around this.

If you’re not familiar with Billy Corben’s Cocaine Cowboys or Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded documentaries you REALLY need to check them out if you’re at all fascinated by the rise of cocaine kingpins in Florida in the 70’s and 80’s. You can find both of the documentaries on Amazon by following those links. Billy Corben also has an upcoming follow-up series to those films titled Cocaine Cowboys: Los Muchachos which debuts soon. So the timing of this is pretty interesting for that series.