EXCLUSIVE: Cuban-American drug kingpin Willy Falcon is finally poised to tell the story of how he built the billion-dollar cocaine empire Los Muchachos. Entertainment A.R.E.U., the company started by Ozzie Areu after he left as longtime president of Tyler Perry Studios, has acquired the exclusive life rights and cooperation of Falcon.
Areu has also acquired rights to the T.J. English book The Last Kilo: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America. The package is seven-figures if the film gets made.
It provides an insider’s view of one version of the chase for the American Dream, set against a backdrop of power boat racing and the lavish lifestyle of the affluent, funded by a coke empire credited with helping to build the Miami skyline, a venture headed by Falcon, his brother Gustavo and partner Sal Magluta.
“This is a story that’s captivated audiences for decades. Now, in legendary form, Willy Falcon is opening up about the life he lived,” said Areu. “I’m already in talks with some of the industry’s top writers to give these stories the caliber of writing they deserve – from anti-Castro alliances to secret deals with Noriega, Escobar, and even the CIA. This is the unfiltered truth.”
Areu plans to tell the story in multiple platform incarnations with a feature, TV series, docuseries and podcast in development. English will host the podcast. All centered around Falcon himself.“I’ve waited decades for this moment because I want people to finally hear the whole truth,” Falcon said in a statement. “It’s time to share my story, my legacy – nothing is off-limits. This goes beyond the rumors and what’s been written in the press.”
Falcon, who served nearly three decades behind bars, is ready to break his silence. It’s one part crime saga and one part redemptive journey. We know from Scarface, Goodfellas and other drug tales that building an empire around the white powder rarely brings a happy ending.
Per the book, Falcon was part of the early efforts to overthrow and kill Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, getting his start in smuggling cocaine to help the CIA raise money to acquire weapons during the Iran-Contra Affair. He grew into a coke kingpin whose innovations in importation and distribution changed that scurrilous game.
Falcon and his partners were the first U.S. smugglers to purchase product directly from the Medellin cartel, and the first to transport thousands of kilos by air, sea and land. When U.S. Customs shut down their route through the Bahamas (where they owned the government and military), they were the first to ship Colombian cocaine through Mexico, where they opened smuggling routes after meeting with and paying off high-ranking officials in the Mexican military as well as partnering with Felix Gallardo of the Guadalajara Cartel.
These two young Cuban exiles – high school dropouts – were among the first to launder their massive profits through banks in Panama, using as their private banker President Manuel Noriega’s lawyer – until Noriega was deposed by the U.S. government and their private money-launderer succeeded Noriega as president.
Falcon served 27 years in prison for misdeeds that are right out of Miami Vice, the lavish lifestyles fueled with a seedy drug underbelly.
“The time has come to bring the high-octane story of Willy Falcon and Los Muchachos from page to screen,” said English. “This isn’t just a wild tale of excess and ambition — it’s a historically explosive saga about how an illegal product — cocaine — transformed a nation. With Ozzie Areu and his team at the helm, I have no doubt this content will blow minds and enthrall audiences worldwide. Now in the right hands, it won’t just entertain — it will redefine true-crime storytelling.”
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