They were the guys. Rodney will review all contracts, estimates, schedules status reports and other documents we submit. When asked what he was doing in Puerto Rico, Andy lies under oathbuilding sand castlesand cracks up the jury and judge. I mean, youre getting back to Indiana Jones or Treasure Island. Thats one of the most entertaining genres of storytelling. We wanted to make it truly feel like you were on an adventure. The earlyClint EastwoodItalian movies, and it brought back memories when we chose that scene to watch. "Julian's story was probably the most fascinating story I've ever heard in my life," he says in The Legend of Cocaine Island, which recreates many of the subsequent events, with Hyden and others playing themselves. Youre going above and beyond. This is the second time its come up, so I should probably do this today. In 2008, he earned an estimated $3 million as a professional athlete. The competition for that title is fierce. But the strangest fact about Hydens story was the revelation that his illegal Caribbean treasure wasnt worth 2 million dollars. But theres no way he can break through, especially while exposed like this. Were not gonna make it. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Grant is a pilot. TL: What were the challenges. When you press play on The Legend of Cocaine Island, be prepared for the exact opposite of a Ken Burns PBS special. Rodney got married to a local girl, had a daughter with her (they each had a kid from previous relationships), built a house for his family in Gainesville, and purchased another one down in Crystal River. Simple plotlines and gushy moments make them easy and enjoyable vi, This story contains spoilers for Prime Videos Nanny. Then, when I actually met the storyteller, Julian, hes this barefooted hippie. Almost anything you do can be construed as a crime., Rodney and I had been in touch for eight months before we met in person. He peppers him with questions about the old guy who used to live in Puerto Rico, the story that Julian tells. The story depicted in The Legend of Cocaine Island begins in an unassuming way. He had a boat. Such is the case in Netflixs wildly entertaining,documentarytale of quintessentially American desperation, dreams of wealth, and the power of mythic storytelling:The Legend of Cocaine Island, out now on the streaming giant. RH: Yeah. He says you can sometimes see the elephants from the porch as they stroll to Watermelon Pond for a drink. The possibility of digging up the buried drugs intrigued him. That did sound pretty straightforward to Rodney. Rodney Hayden Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Rodney Hayden is an This was Danny Jimenez. He didnt know that you could get to Puerto Rico without a passport. Nope, Grant assures him, and if you fly direct, theres nothing to worry about. The construction business in Florida has yet to recover. Melissa De Sousa Vindicates The Character We Love to Hate in The Black Women Gave The Best Film Performances Of The Year. A little later in the afternoon, at what people who are not Rodney and Julian might call the magic hour, the biting bugs swarm and the rain steams right back up off the ground and into the clouds. Apparently, a trafficker mistakenly dropped it either out at sea or in the air and it washed up on Julians beach. Yeah. But from the go, Rodney kept Julian in the dark about the dirty workhe limited his involvement to telling the story and helping with the map. RH: Yeah, I think this man put it out there for a new innovation and Im glad I was a part of it. So for several hours each day for a decade, Julian walked the beaches of Culebra, looking for signs of turtles. WebAdd a bio, trivia, and more. Of how all of this came to pass? He didn't have drug running experience. Back in 2012, Hyden found out about the legend that a huge stash of cocaine worth $2 million was allegedly hidden on an island of Puerto Rico called Culebera. I think the biggest thing was that tell me your question again. But I think youre going to see a lot more of it. The Legend of Cocaine Island is streaming now on Netflix. After the 2008 financial crash, Hyden's family moved from their house with a pool and three-car garage to a double-wide trailer outside of Gainesville, Florida. Blame the snap of the fire and the warmth of the wine. After talking about his football days and shaking hands on the curb, its over. Mr. Rodney T. Hyden President If I had to do it all over again, maybe I should have given it just a little more thought. After tiptoeing, for months, out to the edge of the diving board, he finally seems ready to leap. It is crazy. It was the best place that you could ever imagine shooting. As Julian did not want to involve Puerto Rican police, who likely would not have believed he was innocent in all this he generally wanted to avoid that hassle he decided to bury the package near the trailer he was living in at the time and leave it there. RH: Everybody has been asking about it. Archer was a thirty-minute straight shot from Gainesville, followed by a murderously bumpy four-mile dirt road the men blamed for at least four divorces. Hyden was sentenced to 60 days in prison, 5years probation and five years of community service for Habitat for Humanity for 20 hours a week. We have taken it to a few film festivals, and audiences really enjoy it. (Rodneys about 300 pounds, his top half shaped like the parentheses around this sentence.) He e-mails Carlos: Did you find the nest? And then, just like that, bam, an e-mail with a photo. He recalled driving along a sand road one day when Hyden began to point at something through the trees. Andy heads to a bar, talks to a kid on a skateboard, finds some weed. Steven Hyden (born September 7, 1977) is famous for being radio host. TL: I look for true stories, and I am leaning towards narrative. ", Gutting IRS Will Help Wealthy Avoid More Taxes | Opinion, Eliminating Income Tax Means More Money for Americans | Opinion, 'Miami Showband Massacre' is a Shocking New Netflix Doc, 'Project Blue Book' True Story: The Real UFO Conspiracy. But if, in the end, were all still looking for a named thing to hang the blame on, we could do worse than this: Blame the four-mile dirt road. Support my work with a digital subscription, Century-old missile at pawn shop forces Florida city to reroute traffic, cops say, DeSantis wants to permanently ban COVID health protocols in Florida, Surfside candidate who lost election bid is now in jail on murder charges in Broward, Odd armored fish seen hanging from mouth of Florida heron. Law enforcement never charged Julian, but they never officially cleared him of wrongdoing, either. Rodney Hyden was arrested in St. Augustine by federal agents fromU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations teams based in Jacksonville. He sees St. Johns County sheriff jackets, Homeland Security lettering. I find myself just going back over and over to their movies, and withCocaine Island, I watchedThe Big Lebowskiquite a few times. News collects all the stories you want to read. "You did something that a dumbass would do, so be accountable for it. by Wess Haubrich, Citizen Truth December 6, 2019, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. "Everyone involved thought the whole time, 'Somebody is going to make a movie out of this one day,'" McEnany said. Hes got his arms crossed and a fat lip packed with Copenhagen, spitting into a Solo cup, sort of bouncing in his chair. Were in January 2012 now. This interview originally appeared at The 405. The Legend of Cocaine Islandtells the true story of a Florida man (Rodney Hyden) who came into hard times like so many with theGreat Recession of 2008. Our website services, content and products are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Now, their crew was excellent, and the little I know about movie and film-making, I think you should call Theo Mr. TL: Yeah. Thats a huge compliment. The Real-Life Diet of Stavros Halkias, Who Says Weed Is a Gateway Drug (To Spending $200 on UberEats) A tequila guzzling drug kingpin, police chases, a drum line number, cash and coke falling from the sky, a tortoise sex romp and more wild visions await in the retelling of a story thats just too crazy to be made up. Theo, one question I like to ask all filmmakers that I talk to, what movies and directors would you consider as the most prolific influences over you? New Details About Silvia And Why Nicole Kidman Is Banned From Their Wedding. RH: I learned that you dont give a pig a biscuit because theyll follow you around all day. The state was flooded with oxycodone dealersFloridas addiction to the drug was the worst in the nationand an Alachua County deputy sheriff named Joe Rawley told Danny that good information would be taken into consideration when his case was up for review. That wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Hes always quicker to laugh about himself," Love told Refinery29. Your email address will not be published. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Thanks for telling the story. If the trailer doesn't lure you in, the fact that's it's based on a real case where the main characters are from the Northeast Florida area just might. Though all the lines in the script were delivered by Carlos, McEnany dictated the meeting places (We wanted to see if he was willing to go out of his way to get to the meeting, in a place that was inconvenient for him, during the afternoon, on a weekday) and terms of payment. Florida Man takes many forms; in Cocaine Island, hes Rodney Hyden, the self-made owner of a construction company that once boasted 80 employees. Those Friday-night fireside happy hours became a beloved ritual, and after enough wine, Julian would tell the cocaine story. As seen in the latest additions into the Black horror canon, the scariest thing in the world can so. RH: Absolutely not. Ugh. Read about some real buried treasure in paradise here. If youre a Burna Boy fan, then you know how excited we are about the release of his new album, , Lonnie Martin suffers from a rare condition that causes her to feel seasick while on dry land. It was kind of a dream scenario. Even so, a jury convicts Hyden, a judge exempts him from the ten-year minimum sentence and he's let off with 60 days in jail and a few years of community service. Less the fat cut taken off the top, it feels about right in weight. The salient legal issue, Rosenblum argues, is whether Rodney Hyden was entrapped. RH: My analogy of that is: Theo is driving down the road and hes not in the right lane and hes not in the wrong lane. Hopefully thats the theme that comes out of a story like this. And check outThe Legend of Cocaine Island on Netflix worldwide now. ", He also opened up about his time in prison in his 2015 interview with GQ. TL: Yeah. As the afternoon of the hunt wears on, Rodney gets anxious. The documentary community, they might hate us. Ad Choices. One day, amidst a profound ordinariness, Julian spotted a plastic-wrapped bale, about the shape and weight of a large piece of luggage, just plopped there in the froth of the tide. Another interesting thing about it that I found really cool was the way that you did it almost as mythic storytelling. There are thirty-two kilos in the ground, so thats about a million bucksespecially if they can unload some of it in New York instead of Florida. how old is lydia cornell; bolivian TL: Doing good. This whole thing started because Rodney heard a crazy story. He analyzed the map Rodney handed over and directed the operation in Puerto Rico. Copyright 2023 News4JAX.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. On the way home, when they land in San Juan, customs pulls every bag off the plane and brings out a couple of German pointers. At the edge of Julians property, we confront a gate guarded with a gopher tortoise crossing sign, the (real) skulls of several cows, and the (fake) skull of a human. "From the very first time I talked to him on the phone, he said, 'Look, man its the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life, but its a good story.' His voice is about as excitable as Willie Nelsons. In 2012, Alachua County experienced a crime story almost too strange to be true. The Legend of Cocaine Island treats Hyden's arrest by Homeland Security as entrapment. Youll have to watch the film to find out trust me, you wont regret it. Good answer, Rodney. But whos Rodney to say? Hes pretty sure its where the military does its desalinizationprobably Army guys walking by every day. The bank claimed his river house and his office. Inside according to Julian was roughly $2 million worth of cocaine. He doesnt think of it as a treasure map, but its a treasure map. A question for both of you, Im sure theres probably many, but any funny or memorable moments that stick out from the process of filming? Hey, Dan? That's when the fairy tale ended for Hyden. No, but we might dare you to, but we dont think that you should. But I knew there was a really great story here that would make a great film. 2023byTango Publishing Corporation All Rights Reserved. What will happen with this strange tale of desperation and the American dream? Julian mulled over what to do with all of that cocaine. By the end of The Legend of Cocaine Island, Rodney (and the documentary itself) ponders a police conspiracy theory that could mean the bag is still buried in the same spot, ready to be dug up by any enterprising treasure hunter with the right connections to smuggle multiple kilos of cocaine into the United States. X marks the spot. "Julian was sitting on a goldmine. Over 20 years ago, a Florida man stumbled across a bale of cocaine while living on the island of Culebra near Puerto Rico. Its a unique part of America, he said. 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