Cocaine Cowboys: Miami Dade County’s Connection To The cocaine cowboys

Miami Dade County’s Connection To The cocaine cowboys

For many decades, the crack cocaine cowboys represented the worst of what can be described as an evil empire. Aided by some of Mexico’s most ruthless drug lords and enablers, these criminals used violence, threats, extortion and fraud to run their illegal narcotics businesses. With a low-life level, they seldom paid taxes and didn’t pay employment taxes, health insurance, or even social security. In some regions they terrorized innocent families, abducted and murdered for cash. They often disappeared without a trace. Today, their empire of crime and power is gone from the scene of their crimes and most are behind bars.

The cocaine cowboys belong to a generation that has been defined by greed and power. A small faction of this group, sometimes called “The Firm,” did have a reputation for luxurious living, lavish spending and excessive personal guilt even after their notorious arrests for criminal charges. One of their favorite methods of intimidation was hiring hit men to eliminate perceived enemies and critics. While many of these cowboys have been in prison for many years, some have slipped back into the life of crime under the radar screen, reemerging onto the streets here and there in areas around the country. While many of them have been put back in jail for various offenses, there have also been a number of them who have slipped back into the world of law enforcement with the help of an undercover narcotics unit.

These drug dealers used what was considered a soft form of propaganda when using news footage of police brutality to make their case against innocent people. Police in Miami Dade County found that the most striking evidence they had against a group of cocaine cowboys and the people associated with them was news footage of police beating a suspect using the broken arm theory. As a result of this demonstration of police strength, local citizens began to view Miami cops as brutal and unpredictable and this helped to solidify their view of law enforcement in general. The public outrage that followed prompted the county to review its police department and the board of county attorney finally decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the matter.

Cocaine Cowboys

A month after this special closed session, the Miami Herald published an article about the undercover narcotics unit and one of its members, Detective Chief Administrative Officer Victorio Sierra. The article quoted Inspector Sierra says that he believed the public’s negative perception of law enforcement officers was due to the fact that they were rarely seen on TV. He went on to say that he believed the chief’s plan to use news footage of police brutality would go a long way towards changing the public’s attitude and that perhaps people were starting to see the police as heroes. This would be a welcome change in an area that has long been viewed as aggressive and rough by the public. In fact, the public’s perception of police officers has been consistently higher in recent years than in previous years and this is something that is definitely positive for Miami Dade County’s image.

Shortly after the article ran, various groups and individuals began calling for the resignation of Inspector Victorio Sierra because he had violated the public’s right to have access to police brutality footage. This controversy grew into a national story and a segment on CNN featured the issue, which elicited a lot of debate. In response to all of this criticism, the Miami Dade County authorities issued a statement saying that they would review the dispatch logs from the undercover narcotics unit in question. They also confirmed that the undercover unit had video surveillance of the location where the cocaine was recovered and that this evidence did not come into the hands of criminals. The county did not release the names of the cocaine cowboys involved in the sting or their relationship to the Miami Dade Police Department, but confirmed that they were all on duty with the department at the time of the sting.

Although it appears that the Miami Dade County authorities are taking steps to set the record straight, they still face major resistance from those who feel that the evidence that the undercover cops had obtained was improperly obtained. The original broadcast of “America’s Most Wanted” featured a story that was loosely based on the case, but none of the details were true. This led to calls from citizens and politicians alike demanding that the authorities release all police videos related to the investigation. Even so, the Miami-Dade County sheriff’s department is refusing to release any more information, stating that they hold the cop’s identity confidential. The Miami-Dade County police department also stated that they would not be releasing any pictures of the cocaine cowboys due to the “family of secrecy that prevails.”