The Last Kilo: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America

“T.J. English hits the bullseye again. This is true crime writing at its most gripping and immediate — a riveting epic about crooked cops, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians who corrupted a continent and got snow to flow out of the tropics. The Last Kilo is a revelation.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of Goodfellas and Casino

From true-crime legend T. J. English, the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of “Los Muchachos,” one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history—a story of glitz, glamour, and organized crime set against the notorious 1980s Miami drug war.

Despite what Scarface might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players in the South Florida underworld better than Willy Falcon.

A Cuban exile whose family escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba when he was eleven years old, Falcon, as a teenager, became active in the anti-Castro movement. He began smuggling cocaine into the U.S. as a way to raise money to buy arms for the Contras in Central America. This counter-revolutionary activity led directly to Willy’s genesis as a narco. He and his partners built an extraordinary international organization from the ground up. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the U.S. from the late 1970’s into the early 1990’s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. At the same time, Willy, his brother Tavy Falcon, and partner Sal Magluta became famous as championship powerboat racers.

Cocaine, used by everyone from A-list celebrities to lawyers and people in law enforcement, came to define the Cocaine Cowboys era, and for a time, Willy Falcon and those like him—major suppliers, of whom there were only a few—became stars in their own right. They were the deliverers of good times, at least until the downside of persistent cocaine use became apparent: delusions of grandeur, psychological addiction, financial ruin. Thus, the War on Drugs was born, and federal authorities came after Falcon and his crew with a vengeance. Willy found himself on the run, his marriage and family life in shambles, the halcyon days of boat races and lavish trips to Vegas and parties at the Mutiny night club seemingly a distant memory.

T. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking and money laundering. A classic of true-crime writing from a master of the genre, The Last Kilo traces the rise and fall of a true cocaine empire—and the lives left in its wake.

Go beyond the myth of the Cocaine Cowboys and discover the real story of the Miami drug war:

• A True Crime Saga: Follow the rise of Willy Falcon and Sal Magluta, championship powerboat racers who secretly built one of America’s most successful cocaine empires.
• Unprecedented Access: Drawn from groundbreaking, exclusive interviews with Willy Falcon himself, revealing the inner workings of his multibillion-dollar operation for the first time.
• From Freedom Fighters to Narcos: Uncover the shocking connection between the cocaine trade and the anti-Castro movement.
• Corruption, Not Carnage: Discover why dirty cops, crooked lawyers, and powerful politicians—not just violence—were the true engines of the 1980s drug trade.