Another Netflix instant view special.
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Cocaine Cowboys is a fascinating account of the development of the cocaine trade in south Florida in the 1970s.

My favorite part was the explanation of the role that cocaine money played in the development of Miami from a sleepy tourist town to a major international metropolis. As this film tells it, a key moment in this transition came when the cocaine trade was really cracked down on by the Reagan admin. This forced drug traffickers to invest in legitimate businesses, especially residential tourism and retirement communities, that have since become the basis of South Florida's economy.

But the film also makes it clear that it wasn't the cocaine trade that bothered the feds, it was the violence that came with it. The trade was tolerated until public acts of violence became so brazen that people became afraid to visit Miami.

There's a great account of the relationship between cocaine traffickers and national political leaders in the pre-crackdown years (up until the mid 1980s). Particularly revealing is this statement, delivered in the film, by Jon P. Roberts accompanied by letters from Strom Thurmand and then TN senator Howard Baker:

"I was a member of the Republican inner circle. Howard Baker sent me a letter that said " send me my contribution, and you'll come to Washington." Here I am with all these senators and all these big people, and not one of them ever questioned me or even said to me "What is it you do down in there in Miami?" Come on, they welcomed me in there because I made a big contribution to the Republican Party."

The rest is equally fascinating. Many stories and anecdotes seem dispel the myths I was raised on via Miami Vice, while others pretty much confirm them.