Trial delayed for ‘cocaine cowboy’ on the run for 26 years

Author: AP
Published:
Court, gavel. Credit: MGN

MIAMI (AP) Trial has been delayed for a Florida man who eluded capture on drug charges for 26 years and is described by authorities as the last of Miami’s “cocaine cowboys.”

Court records show a federal judge agreed to delay the trial of 56-year-old Gustavo “Taby” Falcon until Feb. 5. It had been scheduled to begin Oct. 30. Falcon’s attorney says he needs more time to prepare.

Falcon vanished in 1991 when he, his older brother Augusto “Willie” Falcon, Salvador “Sal” Magluta and others were charged in a federal indictment. The gang purportedly smuggled at least 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. during the hyper violent “Miami Vice” era.

Falcon was arrested in April near Orlando, where he lived with his wife under a phony name. He has pleaded not guilty.

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