Miami Vice Tour - Art Scenes

VICE

MIAMI

Thousands of kilos got smuggled through Miami sparking ‘The Miami drug war’ between the Medellin Cartel and the US government; which along side the Italian mafia inspired movies like Scarface and tv series like Miami Vice that glamorized drug traffickers and their hedonistic lives full of vices — and today you can have a sneak peak into that 80s lifestyle without being in the cartel nor a detective.

Time period: 1980s

Movie/book: Cocaine Cowboys (2007)/Hotel Scarface by Roben Farzad

Soundtrack: Lionel Richie/Synthwave music

Fashion: pastel colors outfit, linen suit plus cool sunglasses (and jewelry)

Budget:

Miami - South Florida Metropolitan Area; Miami, 1980s

Segregation by Design website: Highways built in the city of Miami during the 80s; Digital, 2022

This walking tour would take you through the Biscayne Bay where thousands of kilos of drugs got smuggled throughout the 60s till the 80s by cocaine cowboys; and where luxury condominiums and mansions got built financed by narcos. The area is characterized by: “retro” architecture, neon colors (and lights), plus overpriced bars and restaurants. In the 70s there were no cartels as we know them today, instead there were a handful of Colombian/Cuban businessman who set up the trading routes of cocaine. Since the ancient times the people from the andes used to chew coco leaves for an energy boost and in 1855 Friedrich Gaedcke isolated the active compound which latter got refined by Albert Niemann giving us cocaine. At the beginning it was used in medicines and drinks like Coca-Cola but in 1914 it became illegal in the US. By the 70s Roberto Suarez smuggled via his airplanes coca base from Bolivia to Colombia, were it was process into a powder or crack in clandestine labs to latter be shipped to Miami thanks to “Manny”. Once in Miami Griselda Blanco (the godmother) and other cocaine cowboys like the Cuban immigrants Jorge Valdez, Augusto “Willy” Falcon and Salvador “Sal” Malguta stablished trading routes to California and New York, all of them making millions in their 20s. Then in 1978 Carlos Lehder bought the island Norman’s Cay in the Bahamas which became the main center of operations for the now structured Medellin Cartel founded by Pablo Escobar and Lehder in 1976. The United States got flooded with cocaine and crack, millions were maid and the business got territorial and violent (primarily by Griselda Blanco who order the murder of around 200 victims and his famous hitman Jorge “Rivi” Ayala). During The Miami Drug War from the late 70s till the mid 80s the city became the drug capital of the world and the murder capital of the US, but at the same time it got lavish with mansions, condominiums and yatchs were obscene parties took place. Billions were made and millions got clean through money laundering turning the city from a resort town/Latin-American refugee center to a global city with highways, skyscrapers and &$#@. The lavish lifestyle of the narcos (influenced by the Italian mafia), the police corruption of the time and the neon vibes of South Beach inspired the iconic movie Scarface (1983) and the tv drama Miami Vice (which aired from 1984-89), showcasing the city's pastel fashion, nightlife, and speedboat culture while glamorizing the hedonistic lifestyle and violence of the city. The Medellin Cartel fell in 1993 when Pablo Escobar died and the drug trafficking routes migrated from the Caribbean Sea to the Mexican desert via the Mexican Cartels, nonetheless the party vibes and vices remained till this day. The tour suggests getting high (or drunk) and going on a walk through downtown and brunch inside the Bayside Marketplace in the morning; then shopping plus going on a celebrity mansions tour on a boat during the afternoon; and once it gets dark, a “Neon Lights Ocean Drive” walking tour, dinner at Montanas plus bar hoping after.