Machine gun wielding drug traffickers with flashy cars and speed boats was a reality in the 1980's and provided plenty of ideas to the writers of Miami Vice. In fact a source quoted in an article in today's Washtington Post, says 85% of the scripts were a "paraphrase" of what actually appeared on television.

"There was a constant turf war," said Hoelscher. "We were out-equipped. They had better aircraft. They had bigger, faster boats. They had automatic weapons. We were outgunned in many respects."

Drug traffickers were regularly gunned down on city streets, sometimes in broad daylight, and bullet-riddled bodies turned up frequently in remote locations. One lawyer was shot to death in his office after he was subpoenaed in a drug case. A liquor store at a popular shopping mall was shot up by men wielding submachine guns and driving around in an armored panel truck

Many drug traffickers are still calling Miami home, but they keep a low profile and lately appear to be assimilating into the suburbs. The article also sites the increased trafficking along the Mexican border. The new Miami Vice movie is set up in the present but certainly harkens back to a time when scenes from "Scarface" played out on the streets.

Photo Credit: Flickr-Mywhirl...